UK Deputy PM Clegg defends response to London riots

He also rejected claims government failed to provide leadership as the capital was hit by rioting over the weekend because senior ministers were away from London.As it emerged that Theresa May, the Home Secretary is flying back to the UK for talks with police chiefs about the disturbances; Clegg defended the governments response to the trouble and condemned what he described as needless opportunistic theft and violence – nothing more, nothing less.On his first day back in Westminster after his summer holiday Clegg said the violence was completely unacceptable. The government stood side by side with those people in those communities who utterly condemn the violence and the theft, he said.There have been complaints that the government did not have a senior minister in London at the weekend when the rioting broke out. But Clegg insisted that senior members of the cabinet had been in regular contact by phone.I reject completely this notion that somehow this government hasnt been functioning very effectively, said Clegg, who said he had spoken to David Cameron, who is on holiday in Italy, by phone on Monday morning.We have arranged things to make sure that this government works effectively on all the issues of the day. We are in constant contact with each other and we are working as effectively this week as we do in every other week of the year.