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England riots: Broken society is top priority - Cameron | |
(40 minutes later) | |
David Cameron has promised to prioritise tackling the "broken society" and to review all government policies following last week's riots. | |
The PM said he would speed up plans to deal with anti-social behaviour and improve parenting and education. | The PM said he would speed up plans to deal with anti-social behaviour and improve parenting and education. |
He said he aimed to "turn around the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families" by 2015 and pledged an "all out war" on gang culture. | |
Labour leader Ed Miliband has renewed calls for a "commission of inquiry". | |
Mr Cameron described the rioting, looting and arson that spread from London to parts of the East and West Midlands, Merseyside, Bristol, Manchester and Gloucester as "a wake-up call for our country". | Mr Cameron described the rioting, looting and arson that spread from London to parts of the East and West Midlands, Merseyside, Bristol, Manchester and Gloucester as "a wake-up call for our country". |
He said the "worst of the British people" had been seen during the riots but praised those who had helped clean up shops and defend their homes, as well as the emergency services on the front line. | |
In a speech in Oxfordshire, he said politicians had been "unwilling for too long to talk about what is right and what is wrong", but such moral neutrality would not "cut it any more" and pledged a social, as well as a security, fightback. | |
He included children without fathers, schools without discipline and communities without control in a long list of what he believes has gone wrong in parts of the country. | He included children without fathers, schools without discipline and communities without control in a long list of what he believes has gone wrong in parts of the country. |
"The broken society is back at the top of my agenda," Mr Cameron said. | |
He said more police officers were needed on the streets "deterring crime, ready to regroup and crack down at the first sign of trouble". | |
'Criminal disease' | |
And he argued that those demanding he reverse government plans to cut police funding were "missing the point" - as ministers would cut the bureaucracy that was suffocating forces. | |
He pledged a "concerted, all out war on gangs and gang culture", which he said was a "major criminal disease that has infected streets and estates across our country". | |
"Stamping out these gangs should be a new national priority," he said - adding that a cross-government programme would look at "every aspect of this problem". | |
The PM criticised parents who did not even attend court when their children were faced with rioting charges and said he wanted a "family test" applied to all domestic policies. | |
"If it hurts families, if it undermines commitment, if it tramples over the values that keep people together, or stops families from being together, then we shouldn't do it." | |
Plans to improve parenting would be "accelerated, expanded and implemented as quickly as possible", he said, pledging to put "rocket boosters" under work to target "troubled" families. | |
"I have a clear ambition that within the lifetime of this Parliament we will turn around the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families in the country," he said. | |
And he said he wanted to push "further, faster" on plans to help schools discipline those who misbehave and reinforce the message that hard work pays off. | |
Ministers would look at the Human Rights Act and health and safety legislation - saying they had been "twisted" and misrepresented by some in a way that had undermined personal responsibility. | |
But in a speech at his old school in north London, Mr Miliband warned against knee-jerk gimmicks which have not been thought through. | |
"The politician's instinct - reach for new legislation, appoint a new adviser, wheel out your old prejudices - will not meet the public's demand for real answers and deep rooted, lasting solutions," he said. | |
He accused Mr Cameron of "reaching for shallow and superficial answers" when lasting solutions were needed and urged a "national conversation", starting in those areas that were worst affected, about the causes of the riots. | |
And he accused the government of undermining police forces with "an unseemly attempt by government to take credit for operational decisions that went right and blame the police for those that didn't work out". | |
Benefits penalty | Benefits penalty |
In other developments following last week's riots: | In other developments following last week's riots: |
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Elsewhere on Monday, MPs on the home affairs select committee are expected to hold a private meeting with Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Tim Godwin to find out how anti-riot tactics developed and with Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers. | |
In recent days, the police and the government have clashed over the handling of the police response. | In recent days, the police and the government have clashed over the handling of the police response. |
Home Secretary Theresa May said it was her job to tell the police what the public wanted them to do, as acting Met chief Mr Godwin accused MPs of "inconsistency of guidance". | Home Secretary Theresa May said it was her job to tell the police what the public wanted them to do, as acting Met chief Mr Godwin accused MPs of "inconsistency of guidance". |
Over the weekend, extra police patrolled city streets but there were no signs of any unrest. In London and Birmingham, magistrates continued to wade through the latest cases in weekend sittings. | |
What do you think of the prime minister's proposals? Will they make a difference? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below. | What do you think of the prime minister's proposals? Will they make a difference? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below. |