Prime Minister David Cameron is under growing pressure to abandon plans to cut police funding, part of the government’s austerity drive, after the worst looting and rioting in decades hit cities across England.
The Conservative Party leader said “the lawless minority” would be hunted down and punished, and blamed the police for their initial response. Trouble spread from the capital to several other cities over four chaotic nights, severely stretching police resources.
Britain is divided over what caused the looting and arson, but many fear any reduction in police numbers as part of the government’s deep public spending cuts would leave the country exposed if more trouble erupts. Community leaders and some commentators say poverty, unemployment and a sense of exclusion among many young people cannot be ignored, and public sector cuts are likely to hit the poorest in society hardest.
Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, took care not to blame the government’s planned cuts directly for the violence, but told the BBC: “The cuts that are being made are very bad for our society.”
Cameron blamed the violence on a minority of opportunistic criminals and on society’s failings. “When you have deep moral failures you don’t hit them with a wall of money,” he told parliament in an emergency debate.
Police chiefs were unimpressed with Cameron’s criticism of their officers’ initial response. “The police faced an unprecedented situation, unique circumstances,” said Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Orde said “honest conversations” were needed with the government about its spending plans. “It’s the 20 percent cuts in the present spending period that will lead to less police officers, we should be very clear about that.” Cameron’s centre-right Conservatives took power in May 2010 in coalition with the smaller, centrist Liberal Democrats, promising to cut spending to reduce a budget deficit that peaked at more than 10 percent of gross domestic product.
