Come join the fun

But many appeared attracted simply by the opportunity for violence. "Come join the fun!" shouted one youth in the east London suburb of Hackney, where shops were attacked and cars torched. The crisis will be a major test of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government, which includes Liberal Democrats who had long suspected its program of harsh budget restraints could provoke popular dissent. Cameron cut short his summer vacation in Italy, rushing home for a crisis meeting Tuesday.

Cameron was expected to toughen the police response. Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May refused to outline what that might entail, but seemed to rule out more drastic measures. "The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon," she told Sky News. "The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities."