Riots, hmm?

It is true that I have not yet pontificated on the recent disturbances but in the meantime I have become rather tired of several opinions. In the first place, these were not riots but lootings; in the second place, they were not particularly large in the scheme of things; thirdly, London did not look like there had been a second blitz; fourthly, this was not unprecedented and Britain is not the country of Mrs Miniver, as some commentators, particularly on the other side of the Pond, think. Anyway, I shall pontificate anon. In the meantime, you want to know about riots? Well read about the Gordon Riots of 1780 (Wiki is relatively reliable in this case).