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| Brown urged to act on stop laws | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Gordon Brown has insisted the government is "taking action" on police red tape - as David Cameron called for stop and search rules to be relaxed. | |
| Mr Cameron urged Mr Brown to scrap the "foot-long" form officers must fill in when they stop someone - which he said was "a colossal waste of police time". | |
| Mr Brown said the Flanagan Report on the issue will be published next week. | |
| Both the government and the Tories want to extend routine stop and search powers, to combat gun and knife crime. | |
| Young black and British Asian kids...are being stabbed and shot and the rules are getting in the way of protecting them David CameronConservative leader | Young black and British Asian kids...are being stabbed and shot and the rules are getting in the way of protecting them David CameronConservative leader |
| Mr Cameron said the first step was to scrap unneccesary red tape such as the "stop forms," which he says prevents police from carrying out more stop and search exercises. | |
| Speaking at prime minister's questions in the Commons, Mr Cameron said: "For more than three years the Conservative Party has been arguing that we should scrap the form that police have to fill in every time they stop someone. | |
| "It is a foot long and takes seven minutes to complete. Will you confirm that the government will now scrap the stop form?" | |
| 'Out of date' | |
| Mr Brown said: "The Flanagan report that was published in November recommended that we reduce and remove the bureaucracy associated with the filling in of forms. | |
| "He will publish his final report next Monday. We are taking the action that is necessary and you should be supporting us." | |
| In an interim report published last year, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the chief inspector of constabulary in England and Wales, said were police bogged down in red tape and afraid to use their own judgement. | |
| Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is expected to announce in the next few days that more police officers will be given the power to search people without giving a reason. | |
| Mr Cameron told the BBC he would back the government if it scrapped the stop and search restrictions. | |
| He said the rules had been brought in to protect black and Asian communities from racist police officers but were now harming the communities they were meant to help. | |
| He said concern about a return to "sus" laws - one of the factors behind inner city riots in the early 1980s - were misplaced and the police were no longer racist. | |
| "We need to make sure the police behave properly but I think there is a big change in policing since the 1980s and they understand concerns about racism, concerns about targeting particular groups," Mr Cameron told BBC News. | |
| He said black and Asian communities would have to accept more stop and search but that it was necessary to combat the growth of violent crime in those communities. | |
| "It may mean more stopping and searching - it should mean more stopping and searching - but I think that has to happen," added Mr Cameron. | |
| Speaking earlier, in an interview with The Sun, Mr Cameron said: "Stop and search rules were put in place to protect young black and Asian British kids. | |
| "Now it's the young black and British Asian kids that are being stabbed and shot and the rules are getting in the way of protecting them." | "Now it's the young black and British Asian kids that are being stabbed and shot and the rules are getting in the way of protecting them." |
| He said a Conservative government would need to work out whether the rules on "reasonable suspicion" should be scrapped altogether or replaced with the "say-so of an inspector or sergeant or lower". | He said a Conservative government would need to work out whether the rules on "reasonable suspicion" should be scrapped altogether or replaced with the "say-so of an inspector or sergeant or lower". |
| "But those current laws, be in no doubt, have to go." | "But those current laws, be in no doubt, have to go." |
| He added: "This is not about race. It's about stopping crime and reducing the number of victims of crime. | He added: "This is not about race. It's about stopping crime and reducing the number of victims of crime. |
| "The statistics are undeniable and it's clear by carrying out more stop and searches it is the black and Asian communities who will benefit most." | "The statistics are undeniable and it's clear by carrying out more stop and searches it is the black and Asian communities who will benefit most." |