Police

Sunday

James Forsyth

Cameron mustn’t let the police top brass bully him into silence

The police have been busy defending themselves this weekend against any criticism of their performance. They aim to stop elected politicians from making any comment on their performance. But David Cameron should not—and must not—back down from both his criticism of police tactics and his conviction that the force urgently needs reforming. The truth is that the initial police response to the riots was hopelessly inadequate. If senior police officers really do think that the Met’s performance on Saturday, Sunday and Monday was adequate, then that in and of itself makes the case for reform. Losing control of the streets in sections of the capital is a failure. As one

Fraser Nelson

From the archives: the Bill Bratton edition

As James Forsyth says today, No10 wants Bill Bratton to not just take charge of the Met but start a revolution in policing. A ‘Stop Bratton’ campaign has duly begun with Sir Hugh Orde, himself a candidate for the job, saying that he’s not sure he wants to “learn about gangs from an area of America that has 400 of them.” But it’s worth noting, though, that Bratton has advised the British government before: in June 2006, at the beginning of John Reid’s tenure at the Home Office. Allister Heath (now editor of CityAM) went to meet him and reported back in The Spectator. His piece is below. ‘You can control

Saturday

David Blackburn

Boris’ long-game strategy

Has the sheen come off BoJo? The question is echoing around some virtual corridors in Westminster this weekend. The Mayor of London was caught off guard by the recent riots and his initial decision to remain en vacances made him look aloof and remote, a sense that grew during his disastrous walkabout in Clapham. Then he joined Labour in calls for cuts in the police budget to be reversed, a decision that reeked on opportunism, superficially at least. The FT’s Jim Pickard has an excellent post on these matters and he reveals that Boris Johnson has been voicing these concerns in private for months and that he has a brace

David Blackburn

Cameron lands Supercop as police acrimony mounts

Internationally renowned policeman Bill Bratton has agreed to advise the government on how to defeat gang culture. Bratton’s role is not official, but he will arrive for duty in the autumn nonetheless. The former LA police chief has already offered a diagnosis of Britain’s problems. In an interview with the Telegraph, he says that hoodlums have been “emboldened” by timid policing and lenient sentencing. Quite what this means for Ken Clarke’s justice policy, supported by the Liberal Democrats, remains to be seen. But the indications are that the government will bolster its law and order policies. Doubtless a wry smile will have broken across the face of Andy Coulson, who

Friday

David Blackburn

From the archives – the nihilism of the young

Theodore Dalrymple has an article in this week’s issue of magazine (non-subscribers can buy the Spectator from just £1 an issue), on the nihilism of the young. Roy Kerridge came to very similar conclusions during the Brixton riots of 1981. Here’s what he made of them: A day in Brixton, Roy Kerridge, The Spectator, 18 April 1981 Some years ago I noticed that all was not well with some of the teenage children of my West Indian friends. After reluctantly being pushed out of their schools – where they really did spend the happiest days of their lives, going on treats almost every week – they simply went home and

James Forsyth

Time for action

The facts of life are Conservative, as the old phrase has it. The events of the past few days have shown the urgent need for Tory social policies. The case for reforms to the police, welfare and education has been amply demonstrated.  Some in the government appear to get this. But there is also an odd hesitancy about getting on the front foot. As Tim Montgomerie said yesterday, why wasn’t a minister put up for Question Time last night? They could have used the programme to push Cameron’s reform agenda. Equally, why isn’t Cameron setting up an inquiry that will expose how the police have effectively abandoned parts of our

David Blackburn

May intervenes to restore order

Theresa May has banned an EDL march in Telford tomorrow, although the organisation will be allowed into the town to conduct a static demonstration. May has been a hive of hyperactivity since she returned from holiday, and this is yet another example of the government making a decisive gesture to amend for its perceived earlier indifference. It also looks like a strategic decision to contain that other unspoken working class resentment: immigration, and the hint of racial tension that it inspires from time to time. David Cameron was at pains yesterday to insist that the riots were a cultural issue, not a racial issue. He’s right. I’ve spent the last

David Blackburn

Justice is being done as relations between Downing Street and Sir Hugh Orde sour, again

“Busy?” I asked a friend who’s training as a criminal barrister. “You could say that.” Magistrates’ courts have sat through a second straight night. “I finished at five,” said my friend. “Back in court at 8.” The courts are determined to deliver what David Cameron described as “the full force of the law.” These are bail hearings for the 600 people charged so far. Defendants are apparently being arraigned in groups of three in some courts, an indication of the strain caused by these extraordinary circumstances. There will be little respite in the coming days. As I understand it, the overwhelming majority of applicants have been denied bail and will remain

Thursday

Alex Massie

Parliament, Police Powers and Authoritarian Temptations

To the surprise of no-one the public is more concerned by crime this week than it was a week ago. Fancy that! and, equally, to the surprise of no-one, parliament was prepared to indulge any number of kneejerk nonsenses today. Hence the foolishness* about shutting down “social networking communications” during “times of unrest”. Parliament may need to be recalled to give the impression that something is being done; most of the time, in circumstances such as these, it may be best if it only pretends to be doing something. You don’t need to be as preoccupied with civil liberties as I am to appreciate that there’s the potential for this

David Blackburn

A friendly gesture…

The police received a savaging in parliament earlier. I lost count of the number of MPs who relayed their constituents’ anger about riot police who stood by as buildings burned. Cameron’s defence – that the police response had been inadequate to adapt to a new threat posed by crime facilitated by social networking – did not allay the concern. By the end of the debate, there was consensus among many backbenchers that police officers should receive training in riot control as part of their basic training. The extraordinary incidents in London and elsewhere have been at the centre of the world’s eye, and the police have not escaped censure. Le Monde carries a wonderfully mischievous

James Forsyth

Cameron sets out his stall

David Cameron’s statement to the House of Commons was clear about the circumstances that led to these riots. ‘This is not about poverty, it’s about culture. A culture that glorifies violence, shows disrespect to authority, and says everything about rights but nothing about responsibilities.’ Later in the session, he said ‘you don’t hit moral failure with a wall of money.’ On this, Cameron is surely right. In a respectful atmosphere in the House of Commons, Cameron set out the government’s proposed response to the riots. The major legislative action he set out was a change to the law to allow the police to force people who they suspect of being

David Blackburn

Coalition united in restoring law, order and property

David Cameron’s convictions are best expressed in anger. Cameron exuded an air of the patrician yesterday with his righteous moral certainty. This may have made some observers squirm, but others would have seen this seething performance as the essence of leadership in crisis. Cameron is likely to sustain this tone in parliament today. He will say that there is a “sickness” in our society and set out his plan for curing the malaise. The political class has already offered the government a panoply of options to pursue, but the coalition is expected to stand by its current course of education and welfare reform; if anything, these riots confirm their necessity.

Wednesday

Jonathan Jones

The public wants firmer action

Judging by today’s YouGov polls, the riots have pushed crime sharply up the national agenda: it now ranks second, behind only the economy. In all, almost half of Brits think crime is one of the top three issues facing the country, more than double the number who said so a fortnight ago. The effect has, unsurprisingly, been strongest in London, where around two-in-three now see crime as a major concern: As for the causes of the riots, the majority blame “criminal behaviour” and “gang culture”. Contrary to what Harriet Harman may insinuate, just eight per cent blame the government’s cuts, and this is largely the 16 per cent of Labour

Matt Sanders

How Chalk Farm survived the riots

For those emerging from Chalk Farm Tube station on Tuesday night, the scene was set. It’s unsettling seeing a place you know well boarded up, locked down and steeling itself for attack. Few businesses were taking risks, and their defences leant the area a taut, eerie atmosphere, like a place awaiting demolition. One elderly resident — used to the bustle, noise and colour of hundreds of daily visitors to Camden Market — was spooked simply by the silence. Night-time revellers were replaced by policemen on every street corner (Camden had an extra 200 officers). “It’s like everyone’s been evacuated,” she whispered. People were jumpy. A sole siren was like a

Peter Hoskin

The politics of police cuts

Wow, that was a howitzer of a performance from Boris Johnson on the Today Progamme earlier. And all his shells were aimed at Downing St. Not only did the Mayor of London slander Cameron’s Broken Society thesis, not only did he support Diane Abbott against the jibes of Tory HQ, but he also committed the gravest act of all, given the current climate. He lined up with Labour in attacking the coalition’s police cuts. “This is not a time to think about making substantial cuts in police numbers,” said BoJo. “I think it would be a good thing if the government had another look,” he added, for emphasis.  There’s little

David Blackburn

London slept as violence spread across England

The presence of 16,000 police officers in London deterred looting, but violence spread in provincial towns across England, with tragic consequences. Riots in Birmingham left three men dead after a car ran them over; police are treating the incident as a murder. There was also disorder in Salford, Manchester, Gloucester, West Bromwich and Nottingham. Each separate incident was characterised by the same pattern of events: looting, muggings, arson and confrontation with the police. Once again, the Molotov Cocktail was a favoured weapon, and one assumes that the deprived rioters stole the expensive fuel required to make them. Considerable criminal damage has been suffered by councils and local businesses, and the

Tuesday

Maurice Mcleod

When the underbelly roars

When the first riots hit Brixton, I was 12 years old. My mates and I came from south London council estates and, while we were no angels, we certainly couldn’t be described as bad kids. I can’t pretend that I had any real grasp on why people were rioting but I knew it was against the same police who would stop and bug us constantly — even though none of us had either the balls or inclination to commit crime. It may sound like a tired cliche but the police didn’t feel like our protectors. They felt like more like an occupying force. And why? There were countless incidents to

Emma Soames

Joining the clean-up operation

It was 8am this morning when I first saw Sophie and Ella’s clean-up call trending on Twitter. I duly trotted down to Clapham Junction to find the whole area wreathed in smoke and in lockdown. With only four of us there so far, and the police busily trying to restore order, there wasn’t anything we could do at that moment. And so I ventured down there again later in the morning, joining a procession of locals carrying brooms and bags in wheelbarrows. Dress code: hoodless tops, Marigolds and brooms. I spent a cathartic hour with two other girls cleaning up the streets behind Debenhams. We bagged scores of coat hangers

Peter Hoskin

Cameron announces that Parliament will be recalled

So far as its tone went, David Cameron’s statement just now was firm and unyielding. He did express his sympathy for the victims of the riots; the emergency services, the shopkeepers, the fearful. But the major emphasis was on bringing the culprits to book. His “clear message” for the perpetrators of this destruction was that “you will feel the full force of the law”. He preceded that by describing their actions as “criminality, pure and simple — and it has to be confronted and defeated”. There were no excuses nor prevarications, and rightly so. As for the content, it seems that the government is eager to keep this a police