Boris Johnson: London can - and will - come back from all this

I felt a sickening sense of incredulity that this could really be happening in our city. I felt a blinding anger at the callousness and selfishness of the rioters.

Then I felt something else, as I stood in the gaggle of Canadians and others, a feeling I found hard at first to pin down since I had never felt it before in relation to the city I am proud to
represent.

I felt ashamed - ashamed at the actions of a small but significant minority of our fellow Londoners, and the damage they are doing to their own economic prospects and the reputation of London around the planet.

In less than 12 months we will welcome the world to a great summer Games in the greatest city on earth - and by then we must all hope that we will look back on these events as a bad dream.

It can be done. But it will be hard, and we will have our work cut out.

To all those who have suffered the destruction of their property, and to all those who have been terrified by rioting youths, I can only say how sorry I am and how heartbroken I am by the losses they have suffered.

People will ask how the police could have allowed things to get so out of control.

There will be questions about police numbers and tactics, to say nothing of the original questions about the circumstances of the shooting of Mark Duggan, which must be thoroughly investigated.

These are legitimate questions that I, and others, will continue to pose. And yet it would be an utter travesty to blame these events on the police.

The police did not riot. The police did not loot or recklessly set fire to property. The police did not attack innocent bystanders.

These were the actions of criminals who took part in premeditated acts of violence and theft. I have read some of the conspiratorial "tweets" and frankly I find them nauseating in their jocular greed and brutality.

Yes, the UK has been going through the worst recession for 50 years, and yes, times have been tough. But you don't boost London's job-generating prospects by smashing London's shops. You don't make it easier for small businesses to take on apprentices and interns by torching their premises.

Some people say these riots can be explained by the feeling of the looters that they "have no alternative".

There is always an alternative to violence. Nothing can conceivably excuse the wanton destruction of property belonging to people who have been responding to the recession in a
different way - by working harder, and getting up at 5am to prepare their shops.

There have already been hundreds of arrests as a result of these events. We can expect more.

The rioters should reflect that they can cause temporary damage to the livelihoods of others, but that they can permanently wreck their own lives.

Together with colleagues I will today be going to some of the worst-affected areas and talking to residents. I will have one overriding message: that London can and must come back from this. We will repair every shop. We will rebuild every damaged area. We will accelerate initiatives already under way to stimulate growth and enterprise in areas such as Croydon and
Tottenham.

We will redouble our efforts to deal with the root causes of the alienation of young people. We must tackle the illiteracy of the under-11s, and through Team London we are recruiting more volunteers to help kids who are falling behind.

We have already helped to sponsor 30,000 apprenticeships. We need to take it up to 100,000. We have recruited 1,700 black male mentors for some of the most difficult boys. We need to get up to 3,000.

Above all, we need to rebuild trust between the police and the community. Huge progress has been made in the last 10 years but more needs to be done, especially in the recruitment of black and other ethnic minority officers.

We can make that progress, and we can repair the damage that has been done both at home and abroad. But first this madness must stop.