frelling_tralk

I would not use gas or water cannon - the effect is the same. Those are weapons for crowds that intend to storm Parliament or some specific political target. These are just hordest of thieves. You do them a favour by letting them get away. The best thing the police could do would be to surround them, keep them in one place and sqeeze them tighter and tighter - a variant on "kettling". But you may remember that there was an outcry against it a few months ago and the police had to promise to reconsider its use. Plus, at present Scotland Yard is leaderless thanks to the Murdoch scandal, so even if anyone saw the right path, they might not have the authority to follow it AND to defend it from the inevitable critics.