This morning, British people started to do what they do best in a crisis - they tidy up and make a nice cup of tea. I say British people, but amongst the volunteers were many London School Economics students from every continent.
They all volunteered through a spontaneous movement on twitter to help the authorities clean up the mess on the streets after the widespread civil disorder last night. And to hand in bedding, food and other items to help those who have lost their homes through arson attacks.
However, the overwhelming feeling expressed today in the streets, on the phone, on the underground, has been anger - to the point of boiling over - that citizens and businesses should have been subjected to this, and it is still going on.
One shopkeeper described the youths that destroyed her shop last night as "feral rats".
The police have now began the task of identifying the criminals, many of whom are young children, by publishing pictures of the scenes of disorder and inviting the public to identify them, including via social media.
The situation tonight is worsening again across many English cities.
In West London, where the giant Westfield Centre is surrounded by two rings of steel and a huge number of security guards, the streets are quiet. London is a city that never sleeps and this is an area that's busy beyond 2am. Not tonight. The sounds of sirens and hungry guard dogs barking are the main sounds, jarring already frayed nerves.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnston, returned from holiday today, just in time to see the burned out buildings. He was discomfited when he was met in Clapham by angry citizens demanding to know why they had not been properly protected. The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, was booed by people in the streets in Birmingham.
Overwhelming public support for the police continues with plenty of citizens saying "thank you" as they pass officers.
And today, there are signs of organisation, much of which can be attributed to the return of the Prime Minister - a little slow to return from holiday, but return he did.
What should a government do when faced with a crisis involving civil disorder?
First of all, leadership comes before communication. You take decisions and then you communicate them. The return of the Prime Minister to London gave a strong signal that decisions were going to made and control exerted.
The 3 "Cs" of a crisis apply to almost every situation.
Control - A crisis situation needs to be brought under control through doing the right thing and taking timely decisions. In this case doing the right thing has involved taking decisions that stop short of what the public appear to demanding - which include bringing in the army and armed police.
Care - over every detail of crisis management and communication. The utmost care about getting the facts right for example.
Compassion - in everything you do and say keeping the plight and feelings of citizens affected by the crisis uppermost - such as those who have lost their homes and businesses. It is not possible to express too much compassion, and usually too little is expressed.
Once decisive action has been agreed, it's time to communicate. Messages in an emergency should be short, simple and loud and repeated often.
In a fire, for example, "get out" is the best message. In this case "get off the streets" is a message that has got through to many London citizens.
In a crisis, the fewer messages the better - no more than three - and repeated very often in every forum you can find - radio, television, online, social media.
The three key messages the UK Government appear to have adopted were launched by the Prime Minister this morning:
1. We will make the streets safe.
2. We pay tribute to police bravery and we'll put more police on the street
3. The criminals will see severe consequences for their actions.
These fit the need to promote calm as well as meeting the anger felt by almost everyone - even visible today on the faces of some TV newsreaders.
In a crisis, you need to tell people what you are going to do, do it, then make sure they see what you have done.
That is beginning to happen tonight in London. But meantime serious trouble is breaking out in Manchester and Birmingham. This will not be solved in 24 hours.
A worrying sign of a lack of confidence on the part of the public is the formation of vigilante groups of citizens getting together to protect their homes and places of religious worship. Some businesses have hired big guard dogs for their premises. This is understandable and perhaps useful but it could result in further violence. The presence and growth of these groups will be a useful measure of the success of the government's crisis communications operation.
So what did the Prime Minister say this morning that was a good start to the communications?
1. We will make the streets safe
2. I condemn the violence and criminality in the strongest terms
3. Tribute to police bravery. There were 6,000 police on duty last night. Tonight there will be 16,000.
4. People will see severe consequences for their criminal actions - you will feel the full force of the law.
5. Parliament will be recalled this week.
He ends the statement declining to take questions saying "excuse me, there is important work to be done" which was well delivered but after three days of civil disorder, the public and media have many questions and they should get answers.
And there remains too few spokespeople on radio and television. In a crisis, key messages simple, repeated and often.
BBC News reported this evening on the way television news bulletins round the world are reporting the crisis - "London's burning". In the run up to the London Olympics in 2012, the reputation of the capital is at stake.
And remember the golden rule of a crisis - it's not what happens to you but how you deal with it that defines your reputation.
You can follow the police twitter feeds and reaction to the work of the police at:
Metropolitan Police, London @metpoliceuk
West Midlands Police, Birmingham @wmpolice
Greater Manchester Police @gmpolice
They all volunteered through a spontaneous movement on twitter to help the authorities clean up the mess on the streets after the widespread civil disorder last night. And to hand in bedding, food and other items to help those who have lost their homes through arson attacks.
However, the overwhelming feeling expressed today in the streets, on the phone, on the underground, has been anger - to the point of boiling over - that citizens and businesses should have been subjected to this, and it is still going on.
One shopkeeper described the youths that destroyed her shop last night as "feral rats".
The police have now began the task of identifying the criminals, many of whom are young children, by publishing pictures of the scenes of disorder and inviting the public to identify them, including via social media.
The situation tonight is worsening again across many English cities.
In West London, where the giant Westfield Centre is surrounded by two rings of steel and a huge number of security guards, the streets are quiet. London is a city that never sleeps and this is an area that's busy beyond 2am. Not tonight. The sounds of sirens and hungry guard dogs barking are the main sounds, jarring already frayed nerves.
The main streets of West London, normally with nose to tail traffic, are largely deserted at 10pm this evening.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnston, returned from holiday today, just in time to see the burned out buildings. He was discomfited when he was met in Clapham by angry citizens demanding to know why they had not been properly protected. The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, was booed by people in the streets in Birmingham.
Overwhelming public support for the police continues with plenty of citizens saying "thank you" as they pass officers.
And today, there are signs of organisation, much of which can be attributed to the return of the Prime Minister - a little slow to return from holiday, but return he did.
What should a government do when faced with a crisis involving civil disorder?
First of all, leadership comes before communication. You take decisions and then you communicate them. The return of the Prime Minister to London gave a strong signal that decisions were going to made and control exerted.
The 3 "Cs" of a crisis apply to almost every situation.
Control - A crisis situation needs to be brought under control through doing the right thing and taking timely decisions. In this case doing the right thing has involved taking decisions that stop short of what the public appear to demanding - which include bringing in the army and armed police.
Care - over every detail of crisis management and communication. The utmost care about getting the facts right for example.
Compassion - in everything you do and say keeping the plight and feelings of citizens affected by the crisis uppermost - such as those who have lost their homes and businesses. It is not possible to express too much compassion, and usually too little is expressed.
Once decisive action has been agreed, it's time to communicate. Messages in an emergency should be short, simple and loud and repeated often.
In a fire, for example, "get out" is the best message. In this case "get off the streets" is a message that has got through to many London citizens.
In a crisis, the fewer messages the better - no more than three - and repeated very often in every forum you can find - radio, television, online, social media.
The three key messages the UK Government appear to have adopted were launched by the Prime Minister this morning:
1. We will make the streets safe.
2. We pay tribute to police bravery and we'll put more police on the street
3. The criminals will see severe consequences for their actions.
These fit the need to promote calm as well as meeting the anger felt by almost everyone - even visible today on the faces of some TV newsreaders.
In a crisis, you need to tell people what you are going to do, do it, then make sure they see what you have done.
That is beginning to happen tonight in London. But meantime serious trouble is breaking out in Manchester and Birmingham. This will not be solved in 24 hours.
A worrying sign of a lack of confidence on the part of the public is the formation of vigilante groups of citizens getting together to protect their homes and places of religious worship. Some businesses have hired big guard dogs for their premises. This is understandable and perhaps useful but it could result in further violence. The presence and growth of these groups will be a useful measure of the success of the government's crisis communications operation.
So what did the Prime Minister say this morning that was a good start to the communications?
1. We will make the streets safe
2. I condemn the violence and criminality in the strongest terms
3. Tribute to police bravery. There were 6,000 police on duty last night. Tonight there will be 16,000.
4. People will see severe consequences for their criminal actions - you will feel the full force of the law.
5. Parliament will be recalled this week.
He ends the statement declining to take questions saying "excuse me, there is important work to be done" which was well delivered but after three days of civil disorder, the public and media have many questions and they should get answers.
And there remains too few spokespeople on radio and television. In a crisis, key messages simple, repeated and often.
BBC News reported this evening on the way television news bulletins round the world are reporting the crisis - "London's burning". In the run up to the London Olympics in 2012, the reputation of the capital is at stake.
And remember the golden rule of a crisis - it's not what happens to you but how you deal with it that defines your reputation.
You can follow the police twitter feeds and reaction to the work of the police at:
Metropolitan Police, London @metpoliceuk
West Midlands Police, Birmingham @wmpolice
Greater Manchester Police @gmpolice
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