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| Theresa May tells police: We back you on tough tactics | Theresa May tells police: We back you on tough tactics |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Theresa May has told police chiefs in England and Wales they have her support to use tough tactics in riots and that they could get new curfew powers. | Theresa May has told police chiefs in England and Wales they have her support to use tough tactics in riots and that they could get new curfew powers. |
| The home secretary said officers had been criticised in the past for being "too tough" but had her backing if they acted "within reason and the law". | The home secretary said officers had been criticised in the past for being "too tough" but had her backing if they acted "within reason and the law". |
| She said new guidelines would be issued to forces about public order policing. | She said new guidelines would be issued to forces about public order policing. |
| Acting Met Commissioner Tim Godwin rejected claims officers had held back in London. | |
| Giving evidence to the Commons home affairs committee, he gave the example of the borough commander in Sutton who had led a "baton charge of everyone he could get out of the police station up Sutton high street". | |
| "I don't believe for one second that the men and women of the Met were timid, which is an accusation that's been levelled at us which I have refuted but more important than that the vast majority of the people that make up this city, the Londoners, refute that." | |
| In other developments: | In other developments: |
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| Following last week's widespread disorder, which began in north London but spread to different parts of the city as well as parts of Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Gloucester and Bristol, police chiefs and ministers had clashed over the handling of the police response. | Following last week's widespread disorder, which began in north London but spread to different parts of the city as well as parts of Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Gloucester and Bristol, police chiefs and ministers had clashed over the handling of the police response. |
| 'Damned if they do' | 'Damned if they do' |
| On Tuesday, Mrs May praised the bravery of those on the front line but said that she had been told that some officers had felt "because of criticism of police tactics in the past" police had felt "damned if they do and damned if they don't". | |
| She told the audience, which included police chiefs: "As long as you act within reason and the law, I will never damn you if you do." | She told the audience, which included police chiefs: "As long as you act within reason and the law, I will never damn you if you do." |
| She said public support was put at risk if tactics like rubber bullets were used - and police chiefs themselves had not wanted to use baton rounds and water cannon, instead relying on a surge of officers and "robust policing" alongside community support. | She said public support was put at risk if tactics like rubber bullets were used - and police chiefs themselves had not wanted to use baton rounds and water cannon, instead relying on a surge of officers and "robust policing" alongside community support. |
| But she said "strong, enforceable powers" were needed to help police deal with anti-social behaviour, criminality, gangs and disorder. | But she said "strong, enforceable powers" were needed to help police deal with anti-social behaviour, criminality, gangs and disorder. |
| She said dispersal orders - which allow police to move on groups of people from certain areas - had been used "to good effect" and were part of anti-social behaviour measures which were currently being reformed to make them more "effective and enforceable". | She said dispersal orders - which allow police to move on groups of people from certain areas - had been used "to good effect" and were part of anti-social behaviour measures which were currently being reformed to make them more "effective and enforceable". |
| Police would get stronger powers to enforce gang injunctions and remove face masks, she said. | Police would get stronger powers to enforce gang injunctions and remove face masks, she said. |
| 'Robust policing' | |
| And ministers are considering new curfew powers - to allow "general curfews" to be imposed on a specific area in England and Wales, rather than being linked to specific individuals, and to allow them to be imposed on more youngsters aged under 16. | |
| "It's clear to me that as long as we tolerate the kind of anti-social behaviour that takes place every day up and down the country, we will continue to see high levels of crime, a lack of respect for private property and a contempt for community life," she said. | "It's clear to me that as long as we tolerate the kind of anti-social behaviour that takes place every day up and down the country, we will continue to see high levels of crime, a lack of respect for private property and a contempt for community life," she said. |
| "So we will make sure the police have the powers they need. But we also need to be clear that when they use them, and when they deliver the kind of robust policing that worked this week, they have the support of the politicians and the public." | "So we will make sure the police have the powers they need. But we also need to be clear that when they use them, and when they deliver the kind of robust policing that worked this week, they have the support of the politicians and the public." |
| Mrs May has written to Sir Denis O'Connor, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, to ask for clearer information to be provided to police forces in England and Wales about the size of deployments, tactics, when it is appropriate for other police forces to provide help and "an appropriate arrests policy". | Mrs May has written to Sir Denis O'Connor, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, to ask for clearer information to be provided to police forces in England and Wales about the size of deployments, tactics, when it is appropriate for other police forces to provide help and "an appropriate arrests policy". |
| He warned earlier this year that more than two in five forces were unprepared to help police major protests. | He warned earlier this year that more than two in five forces were unprepared to help police major protests. |
| Mrs May took issue with critics who say the government's planned 20% cuts to central police funding would lead to thousands of police officers jobs being axed, saying cuts were needed to deal with a grave financial crisis - but arguing the cuts actually amounted to 6%, when other sources of funding were taken into account. | Mrs May took issue with critics who say the government's planned 20% cuts to central police funding would lead to thousands of police officers jobs being axed, saying cuts were needed to deal with a grave financial crisis - but arguing the cuts actually amounted to 6%, when other sources of funding were taken into account. |
| But Paul McKeever, of the Police Federation - which represents rank and file officers in England and Wales - said the speech was a "real slap in the face" for police, as Mrs May had shown she was "ploughing on ahead regardless with cuts which everyone in the police force say are detrimental." | But Paul McKeever, of the Police Federation - which represents rank and file officers in England and Wales - said the speech was a "real slap in the face" for police, as Mrs May had shown she was "ploughing on ahead regardless with cuts which everyone in the police force say are detrimental." |
| Blanket curfews | |
| He said Mrs May was saying on the one hand she respected officers but there was "implied criticism" in the way they had done it. | He said Mrs May was saying on the one hand she respected officers but there was "implied criticism" in the way they had done it. |
| Campaign group Big Brother Watch was concerned about the announcement on curfews. Director Daniel Hamilton said: "The very principle of imposing blanket curfews on the British public runs contrary to any concept of a liberal and democratic values." | |
| And Labour leader Ed Miliband, who is visiting Bristol, which was hit by disorder last week, said the government's determination to press on police cuts was worrying. | |
| "The lesson the public wants them to learn is that visible effective policing increases public confidence and increases safety on our streets. That is why they should rethink their police cuts." | |
| Police last week defended their handling of the riots, rejecting suggestions from Mrs May and Prime Minister David Cameron that restoration of calm had been due to political intervention. | Police last week defended their handling of the riots, rejecting suggestions from Mrs May and Prime Minister David Cameron that restoration of calm had been due to political intervention. |
| But Mr Godwin told the home affairs committee the relationship between police and Mr Cameron and Mrs May had been "very supportive" and Cobra - the government's emergency committee - had worked well. | |
| "The perception of us as loggerheads is not helpful in terms of responding to the situation we are confronted with," he said. | "The perception of us as loggerheads is not helpful in terms of responding to the situation we are confronted with," he said. |
| But he added that it was "sometimes forgotten" that decisions were taken "in the heat of the moment" without the benefit of hindsight. | But he added that it was "sometimes forgotten" that decisions were taken "in the heat of the moment" without the benefit of hindsight. |
| He said police had doubled the number of officers on the streets of London on the Monday night but had not expected the extent of disorder which broke out across 22 out of the 32 London boroughs. | |
| The Met Police chief said this was "unprecedented and could not have been foreseen". | The Met Police chief said this was "unprecedented and could not have been foreseen". |
| Meanwhile, the courts and tribunals service said legal advisers in court were advising magistrates to "consider whether their powers of punishment are sufficient in dealing with some cases arising from the recent disorder". | Meanwhile, the courts and tribunals service said legal advisers in court were advising magistrates to "consider whether their powers of punishment are sufficient in dealing with some cases arising from the recent disorder". |
| But the Judicial Office has denied that judges had been directed to jail everyone guilty of offences during last week's disorder. | But the Judicial Office has denied that judges had been directed to jail everyone guilty of offences during last week's disorder. |