Parliament recalled as Britain fights riots
Source: Agencies |
August 10, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron recalled Parliament from its summer recess yesterday and nearly tripled the number of police on the streets after three days of rioting in London blossomed into a full-blown political crisis.
Cameron described the scenes of burning buildings and smashed windows in London and several other British cities as "sickening," but refrained from more extreme measures such as calling in the military to help beleaguered police restore order.
Instead, he said 16,000 officers would be on the streets of the capital last night, almost tripling the number that were out on Monday night.
"People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding," Cameron told reporters after rushing home from an Italian vacation to chair a crisis meeting at his Downing Street office.
A wave of violence and looting has raged across London since Saturday, as authorities struggled to contain the country's worst unrest since race riots set the capital ablaze in the 1980s.
Some 525 arrests have been made in London alone and dozens were arrested in other cities. Police announced yesterday that plastic bullets would be "one of the tactics" available to officers to quell the riots.
The riots also claimed their first death - a 26-year-old found shot dead in a car.
Parliament will return to duty tomorrow, as the political fallout from the rampage takes hold.
The crisis is a major test for Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government, which includes Liberal Democrats who had long suspected its program of harsh budget restraints could provoke popular dissent.
In London, groups of young people rampaged for a third straight night, setting buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps alight, looting stores and pelting police officers with bottles and fireworks into the wee hours of Tuesday.
England's soccer match today against the Netherlands in London's Wembley Stadium was canceled to free up police officers for riot duty.
Cameron said leaves have been canceled for police in London, and reinforcements have been called in from all over the country.
Armored vehicles were deployed in some of the worst-hit districts, but authorities still struggled to keep pace with the chaos unfolding at flashpoints across London, in the central city of Birmingham, the western city of Bristol and the northwestern city of Liverpool.
"The violence we have seen is simply inexcusable. Ordinary people have had their lives turned upside down by this mindless thuggery," said police commander Christine Jones.
London police said 14 people were injured.
The rioters appeared to have little unifying cause, though some claimed to oppose sharp government spending cuts, which will slash welfare payments and cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs through 2015.
But many were attracted simply by the opportunity for violence. "Come join the fun!" shouted one youth in the east London suburb of Hackney, where shops were attacked and cars torched.
Rioters were left virtually unchallenged in several neighborhoods and able to plunder from stores at will. Restaurants and stores closed early across London again yesterday, fearing more looting.
Disorder flared throughout the night, from gritty suburbs along the capital's fringes to central London's posh Notting Hill neighborhood.
A blaze gutted a Sony Corp distribution center in north London, damaging DVDs and other products, and about 100 young people clashed with police in north London around Camden Town.
Police said all London police holding cells were full and prisoners were being taken to surrounding communities.
At least 100 people have been charged, including an 11-year old.
Cameron described the scenes of burning buildings and smashed windows in London and several other British cities as "sickening," but refrained from more extreme measures such as calling in the military to help beleaguered police restore order.
Instead, he said 16,000 officers would be on the streets of the capital last night, almost tripling the number that were out on Monday night.
"People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding," Cameron told reporters after rushing home from an Italian vacation to chair a crisis meeting at his Downing Street office.
A wave of violence and looting has raged across London since Saturday, as authorities struggled to contain the country's worst unrest since race riots set the capital ablaze in the 1980s.
Some 525 arrests have been made in London alone and dozens were arrested in other cities. Police announced yesterday that plastic bullets would be "one of the tactics" available to officers to quell the riots.
The riots also claimed their first death - a 26-year-old found shot dead in a car.
Parliament will return to duty tomorrow, as the political fallout from the rampage takes hold.
The crisis is a major test for Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government, which includes Liberal Democrats who had long suspected its program of harsh budget restraints could provoke popular dissent.
In London, groups of young people rampaged for a third straight night, setting buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps alight, looting stores and pelting police officers with bottles and fireworks into the wee hours of Tuesday.
England's soccer match today against the Netherlands in London's Wembley Stadium was canceled to free up police officers for riot duty.
Cameron said leaves have been canceled for police in London, and reinforcements have been called in from all over the country.
Armored vehicles were deployed in some of the worst-hit districts, but authorities still struggled to keep pace with the chaos unfolding at flashpoints across London, in the central city of Birmingham, the western city of Bristol and the northwestern city of Liverpool.
"The violence we have seen is simply inexcusable. Ordinary people have had their lives turned upside down by this mindless thuggery," said police commander Christine Jones.
London police said 14 people were injured.
The rioters appeared to have little unifying cause, though some claimed to oppose sharp government spending cuts, which will slash welfare payments and cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs through 2015.
But many were attracted simply by the opportunity for violence. "Come join the fun!" shouted one youth in the east London suburb of Hackney, where shops were attacked and cars torched.
Rioters were left virtually unchallenged in several neighborhoods and able to plunder from stores at will. Restaurants and stores closed early across London again yesterday, fearing more looting.
Disorder flared throughout the night, from gritty suburbs along the capital's fringes to central London's posh Notting Hill neighborhood.
A blaze gutted a Sony Corp distribution center in north London, damaging DVDs and other products, and about 100 young people clashed with police in north London around Camden Town.
Police said all London police holding cells were full and prisoners were being taken to surrounding communities.
At least 100 people have been charged, including an 11-year old.
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