It's not the cuts, Ken...

Some things are cyclical. The planet warms up and cools down by itself; flares come back into fashion; a reality show winner will crash and burn and Ken Livingstone will pop up opportunistically to have a pop at the Tories.

There he was last night on Newsnight blaming the rioting in Tottenham, Hackney, Croydon et al on "the cuts". He bemoaned the "fact" that in Tottenham nine youth clubs have closed because of the Coalition government. Of course that's the reason Ken. It was obvious to anyone watching the rampaging mob that if they hadn't been setting fire to Carpetright or looting a Vodafone shop that they would have been down the local youth club enjoying a lemonade while playing a gentle game of Whist.

The fact is that, like Livingstone, much of what has gone on over the past three days is nothing more than opportunism. Opportunism to run amok. Opportunism to have a punch-up with the Old Bill. Opportunism to smash up a few shops and loot them while you can.

The people carrying out this mayhem are not doing it because of the cuts. They are not doing it because the police shot some gangster in the back of a taxi. They are doing it because they are greedy, stupid, feckless thieves who would prefer to live on money made by selling drugs or benefits or both, rather than get a proper job and improve the "community" they claim so passionately to care about.

As for Livingstone, well there's a mayoral election next year and there's nothing like going on television to defend "the people".

Bring on the water cannons - and if Ken Livingstone gets a bit wet, so much the better.