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England riots: Cameron orders review of every policy England riots: Broken society is top priority - Cameron
(40 minutes later)
David Cameron has pledged a review of government policies following last week's riots, to ensure they are bold enough to fix a "broken society". 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 pledged to "turn around the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families" by the next election in 2015 and pledged an "all out war" on gang culture. 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 is to renew calls for a public inquiry. Labour leader Ed Miliband has renewed calls for a "commission of inquiry".
He is expected to accuse ministers of finger-pointing against the police.
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".
"Social problems that have been festering for decades have exploded in our face," he said. 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.
"Now, just as people wanted criminals robustly confronted on our street, so they want to see these problems taken on and defeated. 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.
"Our security fightback must be matched by a social fightback. We must fight back against the attitudes and assumptions that have brought parts of our society to this shocking state."
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.
He pledged that, together with ministers, he would consider whether government plans and programmes are bold enough to mend a "broken society". "The broken society is back at the top of my agenda," Mr Cameron said.
The review will look at education, welfare, families, parenting, addiction, communities, the "twisting and misrepresenting of human rights that has undermined personal responsibility" and the "obsession with health and safety that has eroded people's willingness to act according to common sense". He said more police officers were needed on the streets "deterring crime, ready to regroup and crack down at the first sign of trouble".
Mr Cameron used the speech to reiterate his drive to "build a bigger, stronger society", reinvigorated by last week's events. 'Criminal disease'
"In my very first act as leader of this party, I signalled my personal priority: to mend our broken society. That passion is stronger today than ever," he will say. 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.
In a separate address, Mr Miliband will warn against knee-jerk gimmicks which have not been thought through. 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".
He will also accuse the prime minister of taking a simplistic view of the riots by seeing them as a problem of culture alone, without considering the impact of lack of opportunity and deprivation. "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 penaltyBenefits penalty
In other developments following last week's riots:In other developments following last week's riots:
  • A 16-year-old boy is being questioned by police on suspicion of murdering Richard Bowes, 68, in Ealing last week. A 22-year-old man also arrested over his death has been bailed
  • Joshua Donald, 26, and a 17-year-old boy will appear at Birmingham Crown Court charged with the murders of three men hit by a car during disturbances in the city last week. A third man, Adam King, 23, will also appear at magistrates' court charged with three counts of murder
  • Bill Bratton, the former US police chief now advising the government on gangs, has told the Guardian he can bring about "transformational" change in the UK - and reduce crime despite cuts to police budgets
  • Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has told the BBC that people convicted of involvement in rioting could lose their benefits even if they do not receive a custodial sentence
  • Mayor of London Boris Johnson says he wants courts to have the power to send 11 to 15-year-olds convicted of being involved in riots to pupil referral units
  • In Manchester, those convicted of looting or public disorder will be barred from 400 stores in the city centre
  • A 16-year-old boy is being questioned by police on suspicion of murdering Richard Bowes, 68, in Ealing last week. A 22-year-old man also arrested over his death has been bailed
  • Joshua Donald, 26, and a 17-year-old boy will appear at Birmingham Crown Court charged with the murders of three men hit by a car during disturbances in the city last week. A third man, Adam King, 23, will also appear at magistrates' court charged with three counts of murder
  • Bill Bratton, the former US police chief now advising the government on gangs, has told the Guardian he can bring about "transformational" change in the UK - and reduce crime despite cuts to police budgets
  • Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has told the BBC that people convicted of involvement in rioting could lose their benefits even if they do not receive a custodial sentence
  • Mayor of London Boris Johnson says he wants courts to have the power to send 11 to 15-year-olds convicted of being involved in riots to pupil referral units
  • In Manchester, those convicted of looting or public disorder will be barred from 400 stores in the city centre
Elsewhere on Monday, a group of MPs are expected to hold a private meeting with Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Tim Godwin to find out how anti-riot tactics developed over the course of the disturbances. 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.
Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), is also due to speak to them.
Questions from MPs on the home affairs select committee, who are carrying out an inquiry, are expected to include the exact timing of the decision to almost treble officer numbers on London's streets.
The meeting is in preparation for 6 September when the committee will begin to publicly hear from witnesses, including Mr Godwin and London Mayor Boris Johnson.
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".
Mrs May will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee, Cobra, later to discuss the next steps. 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.
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.