Poll: unrest questioned PM leadership

A great portion of the British public say the government should stop the planned cuts to police numbers while there is a general outrage about the Prime Minister's response to the recent unrest.

A survey carried out in the aftermath of the trouble that flared in London last weekend and plagued other cities over the following days found that 54 percent of voters believe PM David Cameron "failed to provide the necessary leadership to take control of the rioting in London early enough". 

This is while 46 percent were also pessimistic about Cameron's qualification to continue to run the country. 

Based on the online poll by ComRes from 2,008 adults, a great majority of the public (71 percent) think the police cutbacks should be reversed. 

The results also showed that around four in five (78 percent) of the British population want automatic prison terms for all the offenses related to the unrest, even the most minor ones. 

This comes as a separate study of business leaders in London by the polling agency showed the unrest has damaged voter confidence in a group of officials with 29 percent saying they no longer trust London mayor Boris Johnson as they did before. Just one percent said their perception of Johnson improved after the unrest. 

Only 16 percent of business leaders said the police are well resourced to protect their businesses in case of more troubles with nine percent, saying they will reduce their investment in London due to the unrest.