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British MPs seek to learn lessons from recent riots

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Aug 11, IRNA -- The parliamentary Home Affairs Committee announced Thursday it was launching an inquiry into the lessons that may be learned from the wide-scale rioting and looting by predominantly young people.

Committee chair Keith Vaz said lawmakers will begin the inquiry with a view to 'try and find out why these terrible sets of events have occurred and what steps will be taken to prevent this happening again.'

'Given that these matters are still ongoing it is important to give the police all the resources and powers they need. It is also clear that high police visibility has made a huge difference,' Vaz said in a statement obtained by IRNA.

He said the all-party committee hoped to be able to produce an informed response to enable parliament to decide what further changes to law it requires.

Despite being in the middle of parliament's summer recess he said MPs will be meeting with Acting Police Commissioner Tim Godwin at Scotland Yard next week.

English cities were reported to have been relatively quieter overnight Wednesday due to heavy rain and larger number of police on the streets after four days of witnessing the worst rioting in living memory.

The committee lists numerous aspects it wanted the inquiry to cover, including police relations with the communities where violence took place before the riots, the role of social media in spreading disorder and in the response to it, the role of organised groups in promoting disorder.

Other areas listed were techniques used by the police to quell the rioting and the deployment of non-standard techniques like armoured police cars, plastic bullets, water cannon and curfews, which so far have not been used.

MPs are also examining lessons to be learned from the police's response to previous public disorder incidents, the training of officers to deal with riots, what constraints are on the police such as limited resources or powers and if there should be; any changes to the legislation regulating normal policing.