Home Secretary Yvette Cooper orders a review into ‘weak’ system used by police to co-ordinate response to UK riots in wake of Southport stabbings
The ‘weak’ system used by police to co-ordinate their response to last month’s riots will be reviewed, Yvette Cooper said yesterday.
Setting out the ‘next steps’ the Government will take, the Home Secretary praised the ‘robust and swift’ action taken by the criminal justice system, with around 1,280 arrests, 800 charges and 570 people brought before the courts.
But in a statement to the Commons, made after MPs returned from the summer recess, she also set out a series of reviews that will aim to prevent future flare-ups.
These will include an examination of the systems used by the National Police Coordination Centre, which was set up in the wake of the 2011 riots to allow forces across the UK to share resources.
‘I want to particularly thank the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and public order lead for the mobilisation work that they did. But the reality is co-ordination infrastructure and systems that they had to work with were too weak,’ Ms Cooper said.
In a statement to the Commons, made after MPs returned from the summer recess, Yvette Cooper (pictured) set out a series of reviews that will aim to prevent future flare-ups
Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly (pictured) asked what had happened to a pledge made by Sir Keir Starmer at the height of the riots
Police clash with right wing protesters in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester town centre on August 3
Anti-migration protesters attempt to enter the Holiday Inn Express Hotel which is housing asylum seekers on August 4 in Rotherham
A car burns on Parliament Road after it was set alight by far-right activists holding a demonstration in Middlesbrough on August 04
Police hold back anti-migration protesters during confrontation on the seafront promenade, on August 04 in Weymouth
Police officers with dogs intervene after far-right protesters crossed to the side of anti-racism activists and clashed with the police at Guildhall Square in Plymouth
A police van was set on fire near a mosque in Southport on July 30 evening as riots broke out
Riot police hold back protesters near a burning police vehicle after disorder broke out in Southport
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services; the National Police Chiefs’ Council; the College of Policing and the national lead for public order will be asked to ‘review the lessons from this summer’s events so that we can ensure strong co-ordination and intelligence systems are in place and that there is sufficient public order policing for the future’.
Ms Cooper said there would be a separate rapid review, first announced last month, of extremism in the UK ‘to ensure we have the strongest possible response to poisonous ideologies that corrode community cohesion and fray the fabric of our democracy’.
‘I have been concerned for a long time that not enough is being done to counter extremism – including both Islamist extremism and far-Right extremism – as there has been no proper strategy in place since 2015,’ she added.
Responding to her statement, Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly asked what had happened to a pledge made by Sir Keir Starmer at the height of the riots.
Mr Cleverly said: ‘At the time of the disorder the Prime Minister claimed he would create a standing army of public order police officers.
‘What progress has been made in the intervening weeks to make that claim a reality?’
He also suggested comments made by Home Office minister Jess Phillips appeared to ‘make excuses for armed thugs who intimidated the media’ during a pro-Gaza demonstration and could undermine the Government’s credibility.
He said it also ‘reinforces the accusations of bias and puts people, including police officers, at increased risk’.
He also asked if Ms Cooper recognises that the Labour leadership taking the knee after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, when police came under attack, ‘makes it look like her party takes some forms of violence less seriously than others’.
In response, Ms Cooper asked why he was ‘trying to blame the Prime Minister for something that happened four years ago – saying he is somehow responsible for the violent disorder on our streets this summer’.