The aftermath of the London riots in Clapham Junction, August 2011.
“One of the things we are trying to do is to look at the involvement of gangs; it is possible that that is not as high as people at first thought, but that does not mean that the Government should not be doing work on gangs.” The Home Secretary was also pressed by the Chair of the Committee, Rt Hon. Keith Vaz, MP, (Lab) on issues such as the use of the army and of water cannon. She defended the decision not to use either of those measures, but also the
solutions will not provide the answer.”
Following the statement, 160 Members of the House rose to ask questions. The MP for Tottenham, Rt Hon. David Lammy, MP, (Lab) told the Prime Minister: “In Tottenham, 45 people have lost their homes, which were burnt to the ground. They were running out of their homes carrying their children in their arms, and their cry is, “Where were the police?””. The point was also made by Sir Malcolm Rifkind (Con), who asked whether police had been instructed to stand back whilst looting was happening.
The role of the police was a key theme in the debate that followed. The Prime Minister stressed that the police’s response to the disturbances had initially been deliberately restrained, in order to avoid inflaming existing tensions over Mark Duggan’s death. However, he conceded that “but as I have said, and I think police chiefs
have been very frank about this, the balance between what is right for public order and what
was interest from across the House in the further measures that had been taken at the time and were being taken to combat the possibility of future violence.
For example, giving evidence to the cross-party Home Affairs Select Committee, the Home Secretary, Rt Hon. Theresa May, MP, (Con) said that the riots were more complex phenomena that people initially thought:
Rt Hon. David Lammy, MP
is right for stopping criminality—looting and thieving—was not got right to start with”.
Parliament’s interest in what became known as the August riots did not end when the House rose on 11 August. When Parliament returned in the autumn, firstly for the September sitting and then the autumn sitting in October, there
“A lot of people thought initially this was something that was very much about gangs and young people. It is obvious that gangs were involved. Young people were involved but of those who have been arrested so far, the figures show that only about a quarter– only about 25 per cent or so, around that sort of figure-were juveniles.”
Following questioning from Rt Hon. Alun Michael, MP, (Lab) she elaborated on the role of gangs and the measures
Rt Hon. Keith Vaz, MP
government’s view that water cannon should be examined as a possible option – had the introduction of extra police not quietened the disturbances. The Committees work on this continues, with evidence from the Mayor of London, police commissioners and local people and MPs.
Eurozone crisis
The issue of Europe and its future was also a key one during the autumn sittings. The continuing debt crisis on the Eurozone, with Greece in particular looking likely to default on some of its debts and facing political instability, was the backdrop to a debate held on 24 October on whether the U.K. should hold a three- option referendum on its