We have been too unwilling, for too long, to talk about what is right and wrong in Britain. That is what Prime Minister David Cameron declared today.

In what was billed as his “fightback” speech, he pledged to hit back against the growing minority whose twisted moral code and absence of self-restraint are wreaking havoc in our towns and cities.

Now, he needs to turn that talk into action.

These are challenging times for Mr Cameron who, after more than a year in office, appears to be suffering a credibility crisis.

Like Barack Obama in America, he is running the risk of being classed as a style-over-substance politician. A master only in the art of presentation.

“We know what’s gone wrong,” Mr Cameron said today. “The question is, do we have the determination to put it right?”

Who was he addressing – the British public, or his own Westminster colleagues?

Mr Cameron will need to remain resolute in the face of hand-wringing from Liberal Democrat colleagues and the left-leaning higher echelons of British judiciary, and break free of political correctness shackles.

If we have learned anything from the past week’s ugly events, it is that the political elite appear dangerously out of touch with the lives of working people they rarely encounter.

Now is the time for Mr Cameron, who has never seemed truly comfortable with traditionally true blue Conservative values, to show his real colours, have the courage of his political convictions, and be brave.

And for Labour leader Ed Miliband, who this afternoon pointed his finger at ministers to accuse them of “finger pointing”, to choose constructive collaboration over opportunist snipes.

There will be those behind the scenes who counsel Mr Cameron against get-tough strategies, warning it is a huge political gamble.

But maybe, just maybe, he could find himself tapping into a rich vein of support from the frustrated majority who, at present, feel betrayed and abandoned.

What David Cameron does over the next few days will go a long way to defining how his time in 10 Downing Street is recorded in the history books.

His political future depends on it. As does the safety of our streets.

More power is needed:

There is a general feeling of relief across Shropshire today that the protest by the English Defence League, and opposition “unity rally”, passed off relatively peacefully.

There were, however, still more than 40 arrests, and some pretty unedifying spectacles from both sides.

Some of the protesters chose to wear masks. Why, if people insist they have travelled many miles merely to take part in a peaceful, law-abiding protest, do feel the need to cover their faces and act in a generally provocative manner?

The sooner police are given the legal power to force these people to remove face masks, the better.

And in an ideal world, as shopkeepers count the cost of a day’s lost business, councils and police authorities will in future have the power to ban such gatherings altogether.