Liberal Democrats Vow To Fight Rightwing Policies Of 'Ruthless' Tories

Nick Clegg signals combative approach to coalition describing PM's party as political enemies who must be taken on.












Nick Clegg speaking at the Liberal Democrat party conference.

Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats have vowed to face down "ruthless" and "extreme" forces in the Tory party to protect the British people from right-wing policies that would widen inequality and benefit the rich.

At a rally on Saturday night to open his party's annual conference in Birmingham, Clegg underlined the Lib Dems' newly combative approach to the coalition, describing David Cameron's party as "political enemies" who must be taken on when necessary in the national interest. After a traumatic year during which the Lib Dems' popularity has plummeted and their leader has been accused of abandoning his party's principles, Clegg struck a markedly more assertive note.

While trumpeting his party's successes so far in influencing health and tax policies, he said it was more prepared than ever to "fight tooth and nail" for what was right. "We are prepared to be awkward," he said. "We are not here to make things easy. We're here to put things right."

In an interview with the Observer, his deputy Simon Hughes goes further, telling the Conservatives they have no mandate to drive through a rightwing agenda. Hughes says the Tories have shown themselves to be "ruthless" operators in the first 16 months of the coalition over the referendum on electoral reform and boundary changes and says the resurgent right of the party is "extreme" on issues such as Europe and tax.

He says Tories must come to their senses and realise that they did not win the last election – and that they rely on the Lib Dems for power.

"Not only did they not win but they got a third of those who voted," he said. "The Tory party is not the dominant party in British politics that it used to be. It is absolutely not the dominant force in Scotland and Wales that it used to be. The Tory right have forgotten that."

In a rebuff to Conservative hardliners he adds: "There is absolutely no majority in parliament for your views. If there is a coalition government in the national interest then extreme remedies and answers are not appropriate."

The comments are bound to infuriate Cnservatives as the conference season opens. Many Tories are beginning to resent profoundly the way the Lib Dems are already watering down Tory changes on health and education and blocking Cameron from developing a more hardline approach on Europe.

Clegg and his ministers are now convinced they can claw back some of their pre-election popularity if they can demonstrate that they are reining in the Conservatives and stamping their own mark on government. Deep division between the coalition partners will surface in Birmingham over tax, welfare, health, pensions and last month's riots.

The party leadership will announce it will veto the abolition of the 50p tax rate for people earning over £150,000 – a key demand of the Tory right – unless and until other measures, such as a mansion tax, are imposed. It will also unveil plans to exempt the first £12,500 of earnings from tax, raising the target from its current level of £10,000.

Hughes says the party has to make the fight against wage inequality in the private sector a key theme. He said he is pushing hard for measures to limit the gap between the highest and lowest paid staff in the private sector. "The differentials are obscene and you really cannot just stand by," he said. "Liberal Democrats have to be clear. If Labour is really relaxed about the stinking rich, some of us are not relaxed about it."

Hughes also insisted that reform of party funding was essential to stop the Conservatives running ruthless campaigns – as they had against electoral reform. "The Tories can be nastier – with a result – if they are allowed to collect more and more money legitimately," he said.

On tax, he said the UK properties of wealthy non-domiciled individuals should be hit. "It would be entirely reasonable to say that if someone is not domiciled in this country but has six mansions they should be paying more into the system." Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, will announce the commitment of £600m to boost infrastructure projects and will attack bankers who fail to lend to businesses. "Our judgments about what needs to be done should be driven by the liberal economy we want to build," he will say.

On Saturday night, the Lib Dem equalities minister, Lynne Featherstone, dismissed suggestions that Cameron had been a major force behind the move to legalise gay marriage when she claimed ownership of the policy. "Conference, this is a Liberal Democrat policy," she said.

Clegg said his party had shown courage entering a coalition that was now shaping policy by "cutting taxes, not for the rich, but for millions of people on low and middle incomes". The Lib Dems could have "bottled" the chance to govern but instead "rose to the challenge", he said, "and we did it knowing it meant working with our political enemies and almost certain short-term unpopularity".

The party leadership was celebrating the failure of former health spokesman Evan Harris to force a vote on the NHS. The Lib Dems believe they are making more progress to dilute the reforms behind the scenes.

Rioters Fuelling Prison Tensions, Says Inspector

The influx of rioters into jails has led to violent clashes between inmates as gangs attempt to recruit new members behind bars, the Chief Inspector of Prisons said yesterday.











British police officers charge rioters, during riots in Hackney, east London, Monday Aug. 8, 2011.

Nick Hardwick said the surge of young troublemakers into custody had fuelled tensions in jails and left more young offenders on suicide watch.

He said the increase threatened to undo recent improvements in prison conditions and protested over the Government's failure to embark on its promised "rehabilitation revolution".

Mr Hardwick said the stream of new arrivals had caused "stresses and strains" in the prison system which had spilled over into violence.

A gymnasium at Feltham Young Offenders Institution in west London had been "trashed" and offenders climbed on to the roof, while inmates at Brixton prison refused to return to their cells and threw objects at staff.

He said some of the gang rivalries in the outside world had been transferred to prisons, with some groups recruiting new members.

"There have been some quite serious incidents of groups fighting, fights between individuals and gangs reconfiguring," he said. "Some young people who previously did not have gang affiliation have joined for self-protection. New gangs have also been established."

After being locked up, members of rival "postcode gangs" from London had buried their differences to form city-wide groupings when they were moved to other parts of the country, he said.

The prison population in England and Wales stands at a record high of more than 86,800 – a rise of 900 since before the wave of riots in London and other major cities.

Nearly 200 looters have already been jailed and hundreds more have been remanded in custody awaiting trial.

Mr Hardwick also disclosed that a "significant number" of rioters jailed for the first time, as well as inmates moved to new prisons, were considered to be at risk of suicide and self-harm.

Producing his first annual report since succeeding Dame Anne Owers as Chief Inspector, he said many would have to sit out their sentences without any constructive activity or attempt to correct their behaviour.

They would, he said, have "too much access to drugs and negative peer pressure and too little access to work."

UKIP Appeal To Tory Supporters, While Greens Target Lib Dems

You can tell it's autumn not just by the change in weather and threat of storms... but because the party conference season is under way.











Party conferences are under way with UKIP meeting in Eastbourne and the Green Party in Sheffield.

The first two have already started with the UK Independence Party (UKIP) meeting in Eastbourne and the Green Party, led by the Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas, in Sheffield.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage is using the conference to appeal to disaffected Tories.











Nigel Farage is appealing to people unhappy with Conservative policies.

He describes his party as having an "open door" and believes the bulk of new support for his party will come from those unhappy with Conservative policies.

'Mass deception'

Never one to shy away from controversy, he's used strong language to describe the three main parties at Westminster as "a group of college kids".

But his main target has been the Conservatives who he said were engaged in a "mass deception", claiming they promised one thing about Europe yet delivered another.

Elsewhere, despite the fact the Green's only MP represents Brighton Pavilion and the Brighton Council is the only Green-run administration in the country, the party is meeting in Sheffield.

Given the party's achievement at the local elections in May, this year's conference is particularly significant for its leader Caroline Lucas.

On national issues she's blamed "unrestrained capitalism" for the riots last month.

She told her party conference that underlying issues, such as lack of jobs and wage inequalities, must be tackled.

And she criticised David Cameron's "repressive crackdown" on those responsible for the disorder.

Just as UKIP want to appeal to disaffected Tories, Caroline Lucas hopes to appeal to disgruntled Liberal Democrats.














Caroline Lucas became Green MP for Brighton Pavilion in 2010.

In her speech she mocked the Lib Dem leader and Sheffield MP, Nick Clegg, as "the minister for meeting angry people and being shouted at".

The party recently celebrated its first 100 days in power at Brighton & Hove City Council.

However, not all its pledges have been a resounding success - the idea for a "meat-free Monday" had to be dropped after a council official proposed piloting it with bin men.

But some of the pledges the party has introduced have fared rather better.

They've introduced an extra 60p on the minimum wage for 340 council workers to meet their living wage pledge.

They've also attempted to tackle the council's pay gap, with chief executive John Barradell taking a 5% pay cut.

They may have only been in power in Brighton for a few months but there is clearly still a lot of work to do - such as tackling Brighton's housing shortages and the lack of school places.

"National support for the Green Party in opinion polls has not increased significantly"
Louise Stewart

Despite Caroline Lucas' high profile as party leader and the election breakthroughs in Brighton, national support for the party in opinion polls has not increased significantly and remains in single digits.

So while the conference is a good time to take stock of the party's achievements, it's often a time when delegates - and the public - start looking at whether their leader is really delivering.

Over the next few weeks we'll see how Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband and David Cameron all fare.

With the Liberal Democrats conference next, in Liverpool, Nick Clegg will be hoping he does not, in Caroline Lucas' words, end up "meeting angry people and being shouted at".

David Cameron: Parents Of Truants Face Benefit Cuts

Parents of children who regularly truant face having their benefits cut, David Cameron has warned, as he opened the first wave of the Government’s free schools.











In a keynote speech on Friday, the Prime Minister said the government's social policy review, set up in the wake of the recent riots, was considering the proposal.

Addressing the Norwich Free School, Norfolk, he outlined Coalition plans to ensure teaching was based on “excellence”.

Controversial reforms were needed to “bring back the values of a good education” because failure to do so would be “fatal to prosperity”.

Mr Cameron said more discipline and rigour were needed.

In his speech, Mr Cameron signalled a return to “elitism” in schools in an attempt to mend Britain’s “broken society” and secure the economic future.

He said discipline needed to be restored in schools, with teachers and heads being given the tools to do this but “restoring discipline is also about what parents do”.

“We need parents to have a real stake in the discipline of their children, to face real consequences if their children continually misbehave,” he said.

"That's why I have asked our social policy review to look into whether we should cut the benefits of those parents whose children constantly play truant.

"Yes, this would be a tough measure – but we urgently need to restore order and respect in the classroom and I don't want ideas like this to be off the table."

In his speech, Mr Cameron also championed the opening of the first free schools, state-funded institutions run by parents, charities and faith groups, independent of local council control. Some 24 have opened this month.

The Prime Minister attacked the “prizes for all” culture in which competitiveness was frowned upon and winners are shunned.

The comments marked the latest in a series of attempts to focus on education in response to the riots that shocked London and other English cities last month.

They follow the announcement by Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, of back-to-basics discipline in state schools.

He plans to give teachers more freedom to search pupils suspected of carrying banned items and to let them use reasonable force in removing the most disruptive children from the classroom.

Mr Cameron sought to move the debate on to standards, saying that a rigorous focus on the basics is needed to give young people “the character to live a good life, to be good citizens”.

The Prime Minister added: “For the future of our economy, and our society, we need a first-class education for every child. Of course, everyone’s agreed on that.

“The trouble is that for years we’ve been bogged down in a great debate about how we get there. Standards or structures? Learning by rote or by play? Elitism or all winning prizes?”

"Every year that passes without proper reform, is another year that tens of thousands of teenagers leave school without the qualifications they really need."

He added: "The most important value we're bringing back to the classroom is a commitment to rigour. Rigorous subjects, tested in a rigorous way.

"However well students perform in their exams, we cannot deny the reality of the past few years. The numbers of people taking core academic subjects - they went down.

"The voices from business concerned about the usefulness of some of our exams - they grew louder.

"We are determined to stop this slide - and already we're making an impact."

Mr Cameron made clear that he was in favour of elitism and not prizes for all.

He added: “These debates are over – because it’s clear what works. Discipline works. Rigour works. Freedom for schools works. Having high expectations works.

“Now we’ve got to get on with it – and we don’t have any time to lose.”

Free schools have provoked fury among teaching unions who claim they smack of elitism and represent an attempt to dismantle the state education system.

But Mr Cameron insisted free schools will “have the power to change lives”.

He also sought to link improvements in education to mending “our broken society.”

“We’ve got to be ambitious if we want to compete in the world,” he said.

“When China is going through an educational renaissance, when India is churning out science graduates, any complacency now would be fatal.

“And we’ve got to be ambitious, too, if we want to mend our broken society. Because education doesn’t just give people the tools to make a good living – it gives them the character to live a good life, to be good citizens.”

He added: "A free school is born of a real passion for education – a belief in its power to change lives.

"It's a passion and a belief this coalition shares. We want to want to create an education system based on real excellence, with a complete intolerance of failure."

The comments come days after Nick Clegg said that parents must take more responsibility. The Deputy Prime Minister insisted that teachers should be left to educate, and not be expected to act as “surrogate mothers and fathers”.

May Warned That Rioters Could Target 2012 Games

Gangs involved in last month's riots could attempt to disrupt the 2012 London Olympics, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, was told yesterday.











Fears over attempts to disrupt the Games have been privately relayed by a former police officer to the Commons home affairs select committee, which is examining the worse wave of unrest to hit England for 30 years.

MPs on the committee confronted her with the warning from a recently retired officer who served on Operation Trident, the Met's operation against gun crime in the black community. Ms May, appearing before the committee, acknowledged the danger that the gangs could use the Olympics as a catalyst for looting and violence.

She said the team planning Olympic security was examining the riots to see if there were implications for the safe staging of the Games. David Cameron originally blamed gangs for much of the trouble and said he was seeking advice from Bill Bratton, the US police chief, on tackling the problem.

However, Ms May accepted the proportion of gang members involved in the unrest was "not as high as people first thought". But she added: "There is some evidence that obviously there was some gang activity taking place in terms of encouraging people to take part in these events and as we saw, some of that encouragement was being propagated on social media."

She announced she was staging an international conference next month to share ideas for the best way of tackling gang culture. Ms May refused to be drawn on the causes of the sudden outbreak of rioting.

May To Hold Summit On Gang Culture

Theresa May, home secretary, is to host an international summit on how the country should deal with gangs, as part of the government’s response to last month’s riots.












Ms May, who appeared in front of MPs at the home affairs select committee on Thursday, conceded that only about a quarter of those involved in the violence in August are now thought to have had gang affiliations – fewer than thought. However, she said it was still vital to bring the problem under control.

“We are looking as widely as possible at what has worked [elsewhere] to make sure that what has worked is put in process,” Ms May said.

The home secretary reiterated that the government will also be canvassing the views of organisers of successful gang projects in the UK, such as the Strathclyde police scheme in Glasgow and another council-funded initiative in Waltham Forest, north London.

The prime minister has already announced that Bill Bratton, former chief of both New York and Los Angeles police departments, will be flying to the UK to give advice at the event in October.

However David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham – the borough in which the rioting started after the fatal police shooting of local resident Mark Duggan – suggested the focus should be on reassuring communities that the police would be able to restrain criminals more effectively in the future.

“We must never, ever allow criminals and gang members to run the streets,” he told the committee in an impassioned outburst. “The advances in community policing were important, but it needed to go further.”

Mr Lammy said he had concerns about Operation Trident, the Metropolitan Police’s campaign to reduce gun crime in the black community, which organised the operation when Mr Duggan was shot.

“When police come in from outside the borough, things can go wrong,” Mr Lammy said.

The MP added that he had seen evidence that riot perpetrators had been inciting violence on BlackBerry Messenger days before the disorder in Tottenham began. “I am deeply worried that the police seemed unaware of these networks,” Mr Lammy told the committee.

Separately, in a speech at the children’s charity Barnardo’s, Sadiq Khan, shadow justice secretary, castigated Ken Clarke, justice secretary, for making “simplistic assertions” when he called rioters a “feral underclass”.

“This kind of language absolves people from responsibility for their actions, implying that somehow they had no self-control or no choice,” Mr Khan said.

“Instead we will be looking at how we can make young people responsible citizens who understand the consequences of their actions and have the opportunities and the means to stay away from crime.”

Cameras In Courts Could Lead To 'Theatricals' Warns Top Law Officer

Televising the courts could lead to “theatricals” from lawyers and offenders and cause “ethical and practical difficulties", the country’s most senior law officer has warned.












Dominic Grieve has put himself directly at odds with the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke.

Dominic Grieve QC, the Attorney General, said there was a “big question mark” over allowing cameras in to courts.

His warning puts him on a potential collision course with Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, who announced the plans on Tuesday.

The 85-year-old ban in criminal courts will be lifted initially with the filming of judges’ rulings in the Court of Appeal but will spread to a judge’s sentencing remarks in Crown Courts.

There are currently no plans to film defendants, witnesses or victims but Mr Grieve signalled he would have concerns if there was a further expansion.

His comments followed concerns from politicians and victims' charities that the move risked turning justice into a reality show akin to Judge Judy by providing a platform for offenders or "eccentric" or legal professionals.

Giving evidence to MPs on the Commons Justice Select Committee, Mr Grieve said filming aspects of the trial itself, "in my personal judgment, is impossible and undesirable".

"Clearly all this needs very careful discussion,” he said.

"The question as to whether sentencing remarks should be filmed is in a sense I think, in terms of the validity of the trial process, completely neutral. I don't think it interferes.

"The issue that then arises is, is this going to help public understanding or might it contribute to the whole thing being turned in to a piece of theatre, which might also be undesirable.

"Clearly filming people actually being sentenced is likely to be undesirable as it would probably encourage theatricals, and so for those reasons I think there must be a big question mark over it.”

Mr Clarke wants to remove the ban "as soon as parliamentary time allows" and a consultation process involving the Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge is planned to ensure the move "does not hinder the administration of justice and that it protects victims, witnesses, offenders and jurors", the Ministry of Justice said.

Mr Grieve also echoed the view of Cabinet colleagues that the sentencing by the courts in the wake of the riots was appropriate.

He said tough sentences helped deter others and showed there were serious consequences for anyone involved in the looting and violence.

He said that while some of the offences may have been similar to shoplifting, "participating in a catalogue of offending behaviour that has the capacity to wreck an area's economy and put local people in fear" was clearly an aggravating factor.

Dealing with the riots has cost the Crown Prosecution Service more than £5 million so far, he added.

UK Riots: Acting Met Chief Rejects 'Feral Underclass' Analysis

Tim Godwin challenges Kenneth Clarke's description of people involved in last month's riots.












Tim Godwin has challenged the justice secretary’s description of those blamed for England’s riots as a 'feral underclass'.

Britain's most senior police officer has challenged the justice secretary's description of those blamed for England's riots as a "feral underclass".

Tim Godwin, the acting commissioner for the Metropolitan police, said he would not have used Kenneth Clarke's term as he outlined his vision for the future of policing in the wake of the violence to the London assembly.

Writing in the Guardian on Monday, Clarke said the civil unrest over the summer had revealed an urgent need for penal reform to stop reoffending among "a feral underclass, cut off from the mainstream in everything but its materialism".

His comments came as figures revealed that almost 75% of those aged over 18 who were charged with offences committed during the riots had previous convictions.

Godwin – one of four candidates aspiring to be the Met's next commissioner – queried Clarke's choice of description when asked by Brian Coleman, a Conservative member of the London assembly, what he wanted politicians to do as a result of the riots.

He said: "The one thing that has struck me about the comments made by the justice secretary recently in the Guardian article was that he used a term – that I particularly would not use myself – about 'feral underclass'.

"The use of the term 'feral' in terms of youth and inner-city was first used, as I recall, in my service here in about 2000 following the death of Damilola Taylor.

"I think the fact that term is still being used in terms of young people in our inner city … is a great challenge to us as a city."

He added: "It's a term I would not personally use, but I think we do need to understand the level of fear of crime that actually encourages them to join gangs."

Godwin said the revelation that the vast majority of people involved in the summer riots had previous convictions had been a "wake-up call" for the criminal justice system.

He added that there has "got to be a big debate in London in terms of how we empower local communities" and called for "a wholesale change" in the way people first entering the criminal justice system are dealt with.

This should include developing a "cohesive plan", such as increasing local justice, which would see people coming forward from communities to sit as local JPs.

Godwin said: "Robust enforcement is key, but at the same time we need people to volunteer and come forward and work to make those communities better and to reduce the fear of crime – specifically among young people in inner cities."

He also told the assembly that police had not anticipated the scale of trouble that hit the capital across 22 boroughs last month, but said his force would do everything in its power to avoid a repeat of the disorder.

"In terms of the future, we will make sure that we over-egg the pudding in terms of numbers," he added.

Godwin told City Hall on Wednesday that morale at the Met was as strong as it ever had been. He also said next year's operation at the Olympics "will be better as a result of the experience we have had".

His comments came a day after he gave evidence to the home affairs select committee on the riots.

The panel of MPs heard that the rioting will cost the taxpayer more than £133m in policing and compensation for businesses hit by the violence.

Metropolitan Police To Use Sick Leave Officers For Office Roles

Britain’s biggest police force plans to fill back-office roles with injured officers to boost the number of officers available for frontline duty in the wake of the riots, it was revealed today.












Boris Johnson arrives at the Home Affairs Select Committee to answer questions about the recent riots in London.

The plan, announced by London Mayor Boris Johnson, comes after the Metropolitan Police was severely criticised for not having enough officers on the streets to cope with the disorder sweeping London last month.

Outnumbered by rioters, the police was forced to allow looters to steal from shops in what became one of the largest scenes of social disobedience ever witnessed in Britain.

Giving evidence to MPs about the riots in London, the acting Scotland Yard commissioner Tim Godwin admitted: “We ran out of police officers” and added: "The thin blue line is quite thin on occassions."

Mr Johnson told the home affairs select committee that he had drawn up plans to try an increase the number of frontline officers available to the Metropolitan Police.

“One of the things we are doing is looking at getting officers who are on long term sick leave to come in and do some of these functions that are currently being done by warranted officers in order to allow the warranted officers out there on the street,” he said.

“Out of these events good must come.”

The riots in London began on Saturday 6 August and continued until the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Police increased the numbers of officers on the streets of the capital from 6,000 to 16,000 on the Tuesday evening to prevent a fourth night of rioting.

Mr Godwin, who is bidding to become the new Metropolitan Police commissioner following Sir Paul Stephenson’s departure, said he wished he had increased the number of officers sooner.

He said: “You would want the benefit of hindsight as foresight. Had I had that then I wish I had lots more police officers on duty on Sunday into Monday.”

It was also announced that of the 1,630 people charged during the riots, 83 per cent have had prior contact with the police while 77 per cent had criminal records.

The justice secretary Kenneth Clarke said that the figures highlighted a “broken penal system”.

Mr Godwin said that the statistics were “a wake up call for the criminal justice system”.

He added: “The amount of people that have previous convictions does pose questions for us and I think that we at the Met, working with the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office, have got to learn from that.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said reoffending rates were "ludicrous" but that none of those involved was "beyond help".He said: “What has so much gone missing inside the criminal justice system is that the reoffending rates in the UK are ludicrous and what we end up doing is arresting and re-arresting and re-re-arresting the same people for different crimes.

"Rehabilitation...is a critical component to changing the communities we are talking about."

Mr Johnson said that the justice system must also plan for the huge numbers of extra prisoners it will receive in the wake of the riots. He added: “You cannot simply abandon them there [in prison].”

Mr Johnson also revealed that the Metropolitan Police would submit a bill for £74million to the Government for the cost of policing the riots.

It was also estimate that the cost on other parts of the country came to £50 million, meaning the total nationwide cost is £124million.

Lynne Owens, the Scotland Yard assistant commissioner in charge of policing the riots, also revealed that the forces still has more than 20,000 hours of CCTV footage to view, suggesting many more arrests, on top of the 2,343 the force has already made, are likely.

Met Police Considering More Riot Training

The Met Police is considering doubling the number of officers trained to deal with riots, its acting head has said.









Mayor Boris Johnson backed decisions by Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin.

Tim Godwin said the number of police given specialist "level 2" public order training could rise to 6,000.

And he admitted the force made mistakes in the aftermath of the police shooting in Tottenham of a man whose death sparked last month's disturbances.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson defended police handling of the riots, saying the "crisis" caught everyone unawares.

Both men appeared before MPs on Tuesday to discuss the riots which spread across London.

Mr Godwin said with hindsight more officers would have been deployed on the streets after the shooting of Mark Duggan by police in Tottenham.

"The number of sites of disorder was something we hadn't experienced in the city before - and that did take us by surprise," he said.

He said with the benefit of hindsight he "wished he had had lots more police officers on duty on the Sunday and then into the Monday."

Mr Godwin defended the force's actions saying that decisions on tactics and numbers were taken on the basis of the best evidence available.

He said he wished he had more officers available by the third day of incidents - but nobody had foreseen "22 boroughs of serious disorder" driven by "copycat" criminality.

Regarding riot training, he said: "Looking ahead at what might come in the future, I think we're going to need to increase it."

He said that 43 of the force's officers had received commendations for their "extreme bravery" and 282 had been injured.

But Mr Godwin also rejected suggestions that his commanders had used the wrong tactics or were lacking specific tools, such as water cannon or baton rounds, also known as rubber bullets.



"We had a full range of tactics," he told MPs. "It was purely numbers [of officers] that was the inhibitor."

"Baton rounds were available but I think we would have been having a different conversation [if they had been used and people had been injured].

"I take pride in the fact that we filled up prison places instead of hospital beds, and I think that's the British way."

Mr Johnson declined to agree with the prime minister that police had got their tactics wrong.

The mayor said lessons could be learned with the benefit of hindsight - but disorder had been contained.

The mayor and the Met's acting chief echoed Justice Secretary Ken Clarke's views that the riots were the legacy of a broken penal system.

Mr Godwin told the committee: "I think this is a wake-up call for the criminal justice system.

"We have in London been seeking to speed up justice, make it more relevant, make it more relevant to communities, and that's something that we need to do.

"The amount of people who have previous convictions does pose questions for us."

UNIFORMED POLICE ON STREETS DURING LONDON RIOTS

* SAT 6 AUG: 3,000
* SUN 7 AUG: 3,000 (then upped to 4,200)
* MON 8 AUG: 6,000
* TUES 9 AUG: 16,000 (total on duty 24,300)
* Source: Met Police

Giving evidence to the Commons Home Affairs committee, Mr Johnson said that the Metropolitan Police and the city's authorities had been completely surprised by the scale of the disorder in August that spread from one incident in Tottenham to other boroughs.

"I think with 20/20 hindsight people may feel that it would have been wiser to upscale the police presence.

"But if you look overall at what the police did on [the first] night and on successive nights and what they are doing now … the riots were contained and there were remarkably few casualties"

During the emergency recall of Parliament last month, Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs that there had been far too few police on the streets and they had used the wrong tactics.

Asked by the committee if he agreed with the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "It's self-evidence that there was a difficulty, a crisis, on the Sunday and Monday that caught everyone unawares."

Mr Johnson compared the scenes in London to those in Paris six years ago. He said that the police had to rely on emergency powers to restore order in the French capital - whereas the British approach had ended the disorder within a week.

The Metropolitan Police has told the committee in a letter that policing the disorder cost £74m and they now have 500 officers working on investigations.

The force also said that its commanders took the decisions to increase the number of officers deployed over the course of the disorder and later informed the home secretary and prime minister. The decision to increase numbers had been taken before police chiefs met ministers in an emergency Whitehall meeting.

Gangs

The MPs were hearing from the Mayor and police chiefs as new figures emerged about people who took part in the rioting and looting.

The Metropolitan Police says that the proportion of rioters with links to gangs has dropped from almost a third to 19%, almost certainly because detectives had arrested known suspects before targeting others filmed on CCTV.

Figures indicate that eight out of 10 offenders were known to the police and 75% of them had a criminal record.

In an article published in the Guardian on Tuesday morning, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke blamed the "broken penal system" for the riots.

He said the Ministry of Justice's latest statistics showed that the hardcore of those involved had previous convictions and the criminal justice system had failed to stop them reoffending.

Cameron 'Will Allow TV Cameras Inside Courts'

The Prime Minister is expected to announce that television cameras will be allowed to film some elements of court proceedings, according to Sky sources.











At present cameras are banned from courts, apart from the Supreme Court.

The breakthrough comes after the Head of Sky News, who has spearheaded a campaign to televise court cases, wrote an open letter to the Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke urging him to take action.

John Ryley told him the public would have better understood controversial sentences passed on those involved in recent rioting and looting if judges' remarks had been televised.

Broadcasters have been pressing for some years for cameras to be allowed into courts, but at present cameras - including video cameras - are banned from courts in England and Wales by section 41 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925.

The one exception is the Supreme Court where, for the past two years, cameras have been allowed to film proceedings.

Sky's home affairs correspondent Mark White said the changes, set to be announced by Mr Cameron on Tuesday, were a "significant development".

He said that the move would probably see broadcasters allowed to air the sentencing remarks of judges rather than entire trials.

Mr Ryley's proposal, put together with senior management at the BBC and ITN, was for limited coverage of court proceedings, which would not show vulnerable witnesses.

He said: "Sky News welcomes the decision and looks forward to working with the judiciary to bring about more transparency in our justice system."

Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg said he was surprised that the Government was moving to change the guidelines so soon after the renewed pressure.

"You will see someone convicted, you will see someone being sentenced, but the witnesses who might otherwise be discouraged from giving evidence won't be shown under what we understand the Government's plan to be," he said.

He said the law will have to be changed in Parliament - meaning it might be up to a year before the first television pictures are aired from criminal courts.

I find it quite difficult to think of any arguments against doing it.
John Whittingdale MP

Conservative MP John Whittingdale, the chair of the Culture, Media and Sport committee, told Sky News the changes were "long overdue".

He said he would be "surprised" if any MPs or peers objected to the proposal.

"I find it quite difficult to think of any arguments against doing it.

"It seems to me fairly evident we want to encourage people to... respect the law more, this has to be the right thing to do."

However, not everyone is in favour of the changes.

Baroness Helena Kennedy, speaking earlier on Sky News, warned that such a move "undermines justice" - and that the only cases that would be given real coverage would be "salacious" ones.

In January 2010, Mr Ryley announced a campaign to get TV cameras into other courts, which he said would include legal challenges to the current ban on cameras in court.

EDL Protest In East London Sees 60 Arrested

Sixty people have been arrested after English Defence League (EDL) members clashed with police in east London.









EDL demonstrators were led along Tower Bridge as police tried to disperse them.

Police said 16 arrests were made during a demonstration by the group, while 44 people on a coach were held later on suspicion of violent disorder.

The protest went ahead despite a ban on marches in the area, with police estimating 1,000 EDL supporters and 1,500 counter-protesters had gathered.

Missiles were thrown by activists as 3,000 police tried to maintain control.

The supporters of the EDL, which says it is protesting against Islamic extremism in the UK, assembled near Aldgate Tube station, with the counter-protesters gathering in nearby Whitechapel Road.

'Altercation with locals'

The EDL protesters were later led to Tower Bridge by police to disperse.

The 16 arrests during the demonstration were for offences including assault on a police officer, common assault, drunk and disorderly and affray.

The later arrests came after a coach taking EDL supporters away following the protest broke down outside Stepney Green Tube station, at about 18:30 BST.

Police said there had already been one altercation with local youths after the vehicle stopped in Whitechapel Road and some passengers got off the coach.









There were clashes between police and protesters.

When the coach broke down outside the station there was a further disturbance, the Metropolitan Police said, and all the passengers were arrested.

Officers from London were joined in patrolling the protests by colleagues from around the UK. Vans from forces as far away as Cumbria, Lancashire and Grampian were in action, with riot police, mounted officers and dogs also employed.

EDL founder Stephen Lennon, 28, breached his bail conditions by attending the protest in Aldgate, but was not one of those arrested.

He stood to address the crowd disguised in a wide-brimmed hat and fake beard before revealing his identity.

He said: "I'm meant to sign on at a police station on a Saturday, I'm not doing that.

"I'm not allowed to go to a demonstration, I'm not doing that.

"The credible outcome is I will be put on remand in prison for my democratic right."

'Wrong message'

Lennon was convicted in July of leading a street brawl with 100 football fans in August last year.

Home Secretary Theresa May had imposed a ban on marching in Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Islington, Hackney and the City of London.

The EDL had claimed the ban on marching sent out "completely the wrong message" and insisted a static demonstration would go ahead.

The activists were supposedly prevented from chanting or waving their flags while walking as that would constitute a march.

The protest was moved however, at the behest of police, as the EDL protesters were led towards Tower Bridge by mounted and riot police. They were held on the bridge for about 40 minutes before being allowed to disperse.

Police had not requested powers to stop marches in London since the Brixton riots 30 years ago.

Racist Thugs Shall Not Pass

Thousands of anti-fascists took to the streets of east London on Saturday to oppose a planned demonstration by the racist English Defence League in one of the capital's most diverse areas.












In the wake of last month's disturbances the EDL had cynically attempted to exploit the riot, claiming it was defending the streets of the capital.

But on the streets of east London on Saturday the message was loud and clear as a community united in opposition to the ultra right-wing group. Some in the crowd chanting: "They shall not pass," making reference to the Battle of Cable Street against Oswald Mosley's fascists in 1936.

A proposed march by the EDL down Whitechapel Road and past the east London mosque had been banned by the Home Secretary so only a static demonstration could take place.

But in an attempt to bypass the ban hundreds of EDL members arrived in different areas of the capital to march to the site of the static protest near Aldgate Tube station.

The racists and fascists of the EDL had bragged that they were coming to the heart of Tower Hamlets - "marching into the lion's den" in the multiracial, multicultural borough.

In the event the day was very much won by the anti-fascists and the people of Whitechapel who overwhelmingly rejected the EDL's hate-filled message.

EDL chants of "whose streets? Our streets." could not have been more ironic.

Only around 600 - police estimate 1,000 - EDL members made it to their final rally point - at Aldgate, outside the Tower Hamlets borough boundary.

The largely incoherent rabble chanted anti-Muslim slogans and attempted to sing God Save the Queen but apparently, did not know the words to the national anthem. Most appeared drunk.

At one point one skin-headed member began to abuse and push a young Asian man who had found himself within the police cordon.

But on the whole a massive policing operation had effectively isolated the group from all but a few bemused passers by.

A total of 60 EDL protesters were arrested as scuffles broke out and bottles and firecrackers were thrown as more than 3,000 riot police and mounted police tried to maintain control.

Further skirmishes broke out during the afternoon as EDL leader Stephen Lennon addressed a crowd, telling them he had broken his bail conditions to be at the protest. He was not one of those arrested.

On Whitechapel Road thousands of anti-fascists - police estimated 1,500 - trade-unionist and religious groups congregated in a carnival atmosphere.

The counter-demonstration organised by Unite Against Fascism and the United East End Coalition was addressed by CWU deputy general secretary Tony Kearns, East London Mosque's Dilowar Khan, veteran local anti-fascist Phil Maxwell and other local trade union and community representatives.

Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone sent a message of support, saying: "This is a fitting response to those who peddle hatred and fear."

Speaking on Saturday evening UAF national officer Martin Smith said: "Today we have won. We haven't had anybody arrested. We have stopped the EDL coming into this borough.

"We have marched on the streets today, the EDL have gone and we have won."

David Cameron's Holiday Boost

Pity the poor Cameron family. The received wisdom suggests that August should be a quiet month in British politics. Not so for David Cameron this year. Twice in the space of a few weeks, the prime minister was summoned away from wife and children to take charge back in Downing Street.













First, the worst rioting in decades brought him home from Tuscany; then the assault on Tripoli meant quitting the beaches of England's southwest. That's tough on a leader badly in need of a break after a pasting from the press over his suspiciously close ties to the Murdoch media empire revealed by the phone-hacking scandal.

But the broken holiday has useful consolations. Cameron's approval ratings now stand at around 40 percent; much the same as before the summer's traumas. Better still, the Conservatives are slowly regaining some of the ground lost to Labour in recent months. The latest YouGov polls suggest that the party is trailing by just five points at 37 percent.

Some explanations are easy enough. The riots allowed Cameron to show off the kind of calm and competence that the public expects of a leader at a moment of crisis. And the approach of total victory in Libya has converted many of the skeptics, with support for Britain's involvement in the campaign–now 43 percent–rising with every advance.

No less important, the summer's troubles have provided useful political distraction from other pressing national woes. The latest growth figures show a British economy that's more or less flat-lining. Unemployment and inflation are both rising while manufacturing output–seen as crucial to recovery–fell sharply last month.

That's bad for the Conservatives, with the polls indicating that they are still seen as the party of the rich out of sympathy with the poor or the squeezed middle classes. Voters accept the need for austerity measures if Britain is to escape the fate of other European nations, but the mood is grim. “You need another story if you want to keep them happy,” says Neil O'Brien of the Conservative think tank Policy Exchange.

The riots provide just such a story. Cameron, long accused of lacking a distinctive cause, now has a clear purpose and goal: repairing what he has called “Broken Britain.”

And he can't be accused of any sudden conversion. For Cameron, the issue of how to tackle the problems of Britain's poor and alienated youth is familiar ground. His concern for “Broken Britain” was a recurring theme in his attempts to give the Conservative Party a more caring image in the run-up to last year's elections.

Politically, it's an issue that demands all Cameron's PR deftness. On the one hand, he knows that the public takes a tougher line than both main parties when it comes to questions of law and order. He knows too that plenty of right-wing Tory MPs–their numbers strengthened at the election–are still suspicious of their leader's attempts to edge the party onto the center ground of politics.

On the other, he can't disown the talk of compassionate conservatism that he's deployed in the past, and Labour yearns for a slip-up that will allow him to be portrayed as an old-style Conservative more interested in punishment than seeking to understand the causes behind the riots.

Language is crucial. Whatever their reaction to the riots, the public doesn't like the harsh rhetoric of retribution. “Much of it is tonal,” says Neil O'Brien. “If you get it wrong, it sounds like you're off the golf course.”

So far, Cameron has managed to sidestep the pitfalls, moderating his language to match the voters' cooling temper. The initial talk of the looters' “sheer criminality” and his apparent endorsement of harsh sentences have given way to a more nuanced stance. In a BBC interview Friday, he was advocating “tough love” as well as tough justice.

Not that Cameron can risk complacency. Next month he must address his party's annual conference in Manchester, always a testing experience for a Conservative leader, and he'll need policies to match his words. One recent survey showed a clear majority believed that neither party was capable of mending “Broken Britain.”

And if Cameron's ratings have yet to slump, nor have they markedly improved since he took power. Voters may be awaiting results before they come to a firm conclusion on his premiership, says Rick Nye of pollsters Populus. “You have seen the hacking, the riots, and Libya, but they are not really game-changers when it comes to their fundamental assessment.”

Even if the streets of London and Tripoli stay calm, for Cameron the coming months will be no holiday.

David Cameron's Fury Over Bullingdon Club Riot Jibe

David Cameron was left fuming yesterday after his rowdy student days were likened to last month’s riots.













The PM, who was in Oxford University’s infamous Bullingdon Club, was asked if there were similarities between being a member of “a youthful gang that engages in violent behaviour” and the rampaging mobs who brought anarchy to our streets.

He snapped “we all do stupid things when we are young” – despite previously slamming the rioters as proof Britain had a “sick society”.

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme presenter Evan Davis, who also hosts TV’s Dragon Den, persisted asking: “Did you witness stuff as a member of that club... people throwing things through windows, smashing up restaurants?”

Mr Cameron replied: “No I didn’t and, as I say, we all do stupid things. But what we saw during the riots was very well organised in many cases looting and stealing and thieving.”

Last night Labour demanded the PM clear up an account of his uni days in which rampaging Bullingdon Club members are said to have smashed a restaurant window in 1987.

John Mann, MP for Bassetlaw, said: “David Cameron has questions to answer after his claim that he did not witness people throwing things through windows or smashing up restaurants during his days as a Bullingdon Club member.













“This is very different to what other people remember.

“If we are to get more responsibility throughout our society following the riots then the Prime Minister should set an example.”

The PM yesterday hit back with his own attack on the BBC’s reporting of the riots. He said: “When you listen to the BBC there’s a sort of danger of trying to put these things into a great mush and make that as an excuse for not acting.”

And sources close to No 10 have let it be known the Prime Minister’s team were furious with the programme over the line of questioning.

A source said: “Cameron’s team thought Evan Davis had totally overstepped the mark. Cameron was very angry, there’s no doubt about that. He hates it when his background and questions about his class are brought up.”

A Downing Street source insisted no official complaint had been made to the BBC following the programme.

The corporation yesterday defended its reporting of the riots after Mr Cameron’s attack. A spokesman said: “The BBC’s coverage and analysis of the recent riots endeavoured to explore all aspects, as our audiences would expect. We also sought to reflect a range of views as to the reasons behind the riots. We are confident we did this in an impartial and balanced manner.”

Davis defended his questioning on Twitter, saying it “was about whether there is a general decline and whether we can forgive youngsters caught up in stupid things”.

It has been claimed Mr Cameron retired early to bed before the raucous evening in which Bullingdon members ran from the police through the streets of Oxford after smashing up a restaurant. According to a club source, Mr Cameron was definitely at the party but, unlike most of his friends, managed to escape alongside Boris Johnson and another student called Sebastian Grigg.

Some members of the club ended up spending a night in the cells at Cowley police station.

Despite Mr Cameron’s denial yesterday, he has previously said that “there was a time at university when lots of people drank too much and fell over, and I plead guilty”.

Yesterday, Mr Cameron also revisited his famous “hug a hoodie” policy by saying the rioters needed “tough love” after enduring a hard upbringing.

He claimed many of the thugs had not been given enough love in their childhood and promised to turn around 120,000 problem families by 2015.

A Formula For The Break-Up Of Britain

When the Barnett formula was devised in 1978, it was meant to share annual Government spending equitably between the countries of the United Kingdom according to their populations.


















Unjust: Joel - now Baron - Barnett has advocated scrapping the funding formula he devised for Scotland

In the intervening decades, it has become nothing less than a grossly unfair tax on the English to subsidise lavish public services in Scotland.

This is because the formula has not changed, though the population of England has risen sharply over those 33 years, while that of Scotland has remained static.

The result is that the Scottish subsidy has grown to such an extent that even Lord Barnett, the former Labour cabinet minister who invented the formula, thinks it is unjust and should be scrapped.

New figures which we reveal today show that public spending is now £1,624 per person higher in Scotland than in England, up 15 per cent in just a year.

This equates to the average English family being forced to pay more than £400 a year to fund Scottish services, and that the figure is sure to go on rising.

The scale of the handout allows the Scots to enjoy benefits the English can only dream of – free prescriptions, residential elderly care, university tuition, primary school meals, hospital parking, and most recently cancer drugs.

The injustice is palpable and, unless rectified, it presents a real danger to the integrity of the Union.













Danger to the integrity of the Union: Scottish National Party leader and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond wants full independence.

Recent opinion polls show fewer than a third of Scots in favour of independence. But in England, a clear majority believe it is time for them to go it alone.

If the Barnett formula is not reformed, resentment south of the border can only grow and it may soon be the English, not the Scots who demand the break-up of the United Kingdom.

Is it too cynical to suggest that is precisely what Scottish Nationalist leader Alex Salmond wants?

Harsh but fair

Even the leader of Britain’s prison governors has now joined the shrill chorus of liberal protest over tough punishments meted out to those involved in this month’s riots.

In an extraordinary and intemperate attack, Eoin McLennan-Murray accuses magistrates of indulging in a ‘sentencing frenzy’, likening them to ‘sharks when there’s blood in the water’.

He said guidelines were being flouted and defendants unfairly treated.












Flashpoint: Riots across London and other cities of England in earlier this month were among the worst scenes of civil disobedience in recent history.

There is no doubt that magistrates and judges have taken a robust approach. Of more than 1,400 people brought before the courts in connection with the mayhem, around 70 per cent have either been given jail terms or remanded in custody awaiting sentence — far more than is usual.

But what did Mr McLennan-Murray expect magistrates to do? Put them back on the streets to wreak more havoc?

Offences included aggravated burglary, robbery, violent disorder, assault, arson and even murder.

In their own right these are all serious crimes, but against a backdrop of indiscriminate looting, destruction and anarchy they constitute a serious danger to the fabric of society.

So, understandably, the courts came down hard on perpetrators, in many cases handing out exemplary sentences.

If punishments are deemed too harsh, there is a perfectly sound appeal court system to moderate them.

And precisely what does sentencing policy have to do with a prison governor anyway? His role is surely to contain, and where possible rehabilitate offenders, not determine how long they should serve.

Perhaps Mr McLennan-Murray should just get on with his own job and let magistrates get on with theirs.

British PM Rejects Idea MPs Partly To Blame For Riots

David Cameron and Ed Miliband clashed yesterday over whether the behaviour of politicians and bankers may have played a part in provoking last month's riots.








David Cameron has blamed the riots on Britain's 'broken society'.

Downing Street played down the findings of an academic research project suggesting lack of trust in politicians was a bigger factor in people's willingness to riot than other explanations such as lax moral values or poverty and the Government's spending cuts.

But Miliband, the leader of the Opposition, and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, made clear that they were open-minded about whether alienation from the political class may have played a role.

Prime Minister Cameron, who regards the riots as a symbol of Britain's "broken society", yesterday began chairing a Cabinet review of the Government's social policies to see what changes are needed as a result of the riots. It will include state benefits, schools, parenting, family policy and whether health and safety and human rights laws prevent "common sense solutions" to social problems.

Commenting on the research by Essex University and Royal Holloway, University of London, Cameron's official spokeswoman said: "One can speculate but we are not necessarily going to know exactly what the causes were. The Prime Minister has been very clear. We have to have a very strong response in the wake of the public disorder."

The Liberal Democrats said the perception that politicians, bankers and others at the top were "getting away with it" may have been a factor in the refusal of rioters to abide by the "rules of the game" too.

Clegg is believed to be sympathetic to the academics' warning that depriving rioters of their state benefits could backfire - alienating them further and making them more likely to break the law again. Tory ministers have backed benefit cuts, but Clegg is warning Cabinet colleagues against a "kneejerk" response to the disturbances.

Labour sources said the academics' findings should be considered by the panel being set up by the Government to look into the reasons behind the riots.

Yesterday the Labour leader rejected Cameron's claim that the riots were caused by a breakdown in values. "There are issues of values but you've also got to address the issue of the values at the top of society, because the top of society sets an example for the rest and it hasn't been setting a good example in the last few years," Miliband said.

Miliband also promised to force a Commons vote on the cuts in police numbers.

MEDIA RESIST FOOTAGE CALL

Newspapers and broadcasters face growing pressure from the Metropolitan Police to hand over footage and pictures relating to the London riots.

Scotland Yard has threatened organisations with a court order forcing them to pass on material that may show "crime in action" if they refuse to comply.

Media groups have rejected the demands, maintaining that the press is an impartial recorder of events rather than an evidence-gathering mechanism for the police.

The police would have to convince a High Court judge that the police request outweighs the public interest of having a free press.

Other forces, including Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire, began approaching local and national media a fortnight ago.

Faster Justice Does Not Have To Be Worse

The very public dispute between Eoin McLennan-Murray, of the Prison Governors' Association, and John Thornhill, of the Magistrates' Association, betrays the sectional interests of both sides.









John Thornhill of the Magistrates Association denied the judiciary were politically pressured.

Mr Thornhill maintains that magistrates' courts have done a stellar job in the wake of the riots and suggests lessons for the future. Mr McLennan-Murray, whose members have to cope with the consequences of the courts' decisions, says magistrates have indulged in a sentencing "feeding frenzy", pandering to popular emotion.

As a newspaper, we share Mr McLennan-Murray's qualms about the speed with which justice is being dispensed and the rate of imprisonment. We also ask whether custodial sentences are the best way of punishing rioters and, indeed, whether magistrates are on top form at, say, 2am. Justice Ministry figures show that almost 70 per cent of those brought to courts since the riots have been given jail sentences or remanded in custody; the figure for 2010 was 10 per cent. This is a big difference, even if some harsher sentences are already being reversed on appeal.

But Mr Thornhill has a point that should not be ignored, just because other questions are raised. In three weeks, magistrates have heard several thousand cases, by dint of working longer hours and requiring greater efficiency from all concerned. Yes, there have been problems – missing papers, poorly briefed lawyers and absent probation officers – but these, regrettably, are not unusual.

Against that, there have also been benefits in accelerating the process: events were still fresh in everyone's memory and the link between offence and court, often blurred by delay, was clear. Here, Mr Thornhill is right. Extraordinary circumstances have shown how the ordinary could be radically improved.

The Law Is 'Avin A Laugh – But The Joke Is On Britain

Europe's stand on human rights is too often a kick in the gut for the victims of crime.












Justice for all? Philip Lawrence (left) and his killer, Learco Chindamo.

'They drive me mad, too.” That’s what the Prime Minister told me in a more innocent time, before the riots. Back in April, I was sitting in Number 10, reading him a list of the human rights abuses that drive the public to despair. I don’t mean abuses under the Human Rights Act 1998. I mean abuses of the rights of humans whose children have been mown down by foreign drivers with no licence, humans whose husbands have been stabbed to death. Humans still astounded by grief who have to attend a British court and hear a judge tell them that the conscienceless wretch who extinguished their happiness cannot be deported post haste or hurled, preferably, over the white cliffs of Dover. No, the wretch must be allowed to remain in our country because they have the right to “a family life”.

I keep a shoebox stuffed with newspaper cuttings about such cases. They bring to mind the Ricky Gervais catchphrase, “Are you ’avin a laugh?” On Saturday, I added another surreal snippet to the pile. The Court of Appeal in its wisdom had just torn up powers that allowed judges to ban convicted paedophiles from unfettered access to their children. Apparently, the paedophile’s right to a family life must be taken into account, even if the kids in question fear Dad’s tread at the bedroom door. Are their honours ’avin a laugh?

Our judges’ ever-widening definition of what constitutes “family life” almost dislocated my jaw recently when a Bolivian immigrant escaped deportation because he owned a pet cat with his girlfriend. We cannot know the name of the moggy, let alone the Bolivian, but Judge Judith Gleeson joked that the cat “need no longer fear having to adapt to Bolivian mice”. Was she ’avin a laugh?

Here’s another. In a landmark ruling, Strasbourg judges decided that two Somali men, who had abused our hospitality by robbery, drug dealing and threats to kill, could not be deported because there was a possibility they might face “ill treatment” at home. Remember the case of Mustafa Jama who was was convicted for his part, along with two other Somalians, in the murder of WPC Sharon Beshenivsky in November 2005? Jama, who had previous convictions for robbery and burglary, had been considered for deportation shortly before that tragic shooting, but officials decided it was “too dangerous” for him to return to Somalia. After the cold-blooded killing of Sharon – mother to Samuel, Lydia and Paul – in a Bradford travel agency, Jama evaded capture for four years by fleeing to… guess where? Yup, Somalia. The very place his lawyers had claimed it was unsafe for him to return to. Were they ’avin a laugh? Sharon’s widower, Paul, certainly wasn’t. He said his wife would never have been murdered if “do-gooders” hadn’t kept her killer in Britain.

Why are we powerless to send these frightening, violent individuals back to where they came from? Because, according to the European Court, it’s too frightening and violent. Anything I’m missing here, chaps? Are our learned friends in Strasbourg ’avin a laugh? If so, there is no longer a shred of doubt that the joke is on the British people. A nation that carried the torch of liberty with Magna Carta, parliamentary sovereignty, judicial independence, Press freedom, habeas corpus and trial by jury needs no lessons in justice from its pious neighbours, who loaded Jews, gipsies and homosexuals into cattle trucks. The waffly preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights speaks of “countries which have a common heritage of political traditions, ideas, freedom and the rule of law”. Well, we don’t have a common heritage or laws. As the distinguished QC Geoffrey Robertson has pointed out, torture was a prescribed part of the Continental legal process for centuries after it was abolished in England in 1641. It was Great Britain, not Europe, that taught the world how to right human wrongs.

The riots have made scrapping the Human Rights Act more urgent. More than 150 people born abroad have been arrested so far. Immigration minister Damian Green said: “We strongly believe that foreign national lawbreakers should be removed from the UK at the earliest opportunity.” Good luck with that, Damian. You do realise the poor darlings can’t possibly leave the country, don’t you? They’ve got pussy cats to look after and drug addicts to supply.

While judges increasingly warp Article 8 of the Convention in favour of villains, why do they never seem to consider the right to a family life of people like Frances Lawrence and the four children she had with headmaster Philip? In 2007, the Home Office failed to secure the deportation of Learco Chindamo, Mr Lawrence’s murderer. An Asylum and Immigration Tribunal insisted that to deport the Italian-Filipino would breach his human rights. Like Paul Beshenivsky, Frances Lawrence was aghast to discover that the needs of her spouse’s killer outweighed those of her bereft family.

Chindamo, who was cleared in court yesterday of a street robbery, is a cocky youth who, like so many, had been emboldened by the knowledge that wrongs, however grievous, will never prevent him having human rights on his side. He is one of thousands of foreign-born criminals who have humiliated the Home Office and who have shown with brutal clarity that the law of the land is not ours, for what Briton in their right mind would put the domestic comfort of a murderer before the safety of their fellow citizens?

This is what Cameron was getting at in his forceful speech following the riots. He noted how the “greed and thuggery” could not be separated from the “growing sense that individual rights come before anything else… I am determined we get a grip on the twisting and misrepresenting of human rights.”

Three cheers for those noble words, Prime Minister, but what the hell are you going to DO about it? In Opposition, Cameron pledged to scrap the Human Rights Act “so we can throw foreign terrorists and criminals out of our country”. When I asked him about it in April, he looked exasperated. “Obviously, this is something which is more difficult in Coalition. I won’t hide that from you. The Liberal Democrats have a different view on the Human Rights Act.” He assured me the Government was setting up a commission to look into a British Bill of Rights. What he omitted to tell me was that Nick Clegg would be in charge of it. I’m sorry, but allowing the Deputy Prime Minister to head a body to scrap the Human Rights Act is like appointing a vegan to the Texas Beef Council.

Tensions in the Coalition are said to be running high with senior Lib Dems warning the PM not to “water down” Britain’s commitment to human rights. Good. Let battle commence. Some things are worth fighting for. As a sop to his Coalition partners, Cameron permitted a referendum on the AV voting system, a notion commanding such widespread support that only Eddie Izzard and five blind jugglers in Camden voted for it. So why can’t we have a referendum on something the public feels passionate about? Like a British Bill of Rights.

The PM could do himself and the country a power of good by jettisoning a law that makes a mockery of the very justice it is intended to dispense. To stiffen his resolve, here are some sage words from a predecessor in Number 10. “We are with Europe but not of it; we are linked but not compromised. We are associated but not absorbed. If Britain must choose between Europe and the open sea, she must always choose the open sea.”

Winston Churchill’s words are as relevant as they were on May 11, 1953. The time for Strasbourg ’avin a laugh at our expense must end. The case for a British Bill of Rights is overwhelming. Human rights can be wrongs.

When forgiveness goes a step too far

All together now, “Serm taymes it’s hurd to bay a wurman.” Tammy Wynette’s ballad of female loyalty, Stand By Your Man, was much mocked by feminists. Some thought Tammy was really singing, “Stabbed By Your Man” or the equally catchy “Let Me Be Your Doormat, You Cheating Bastard.” Wynette pointed out that the song was not actually about subservience, but rather advice to women to overlook their husband’s faults if they truly loved them. “Aftur ol, he’s jusst ur may-an.”

I have come to see the wisdom in Tammy’s approach. Forgiveness is good. Even so, the nauseating sight of French heiress and journalist Anne Sinclair standing by her man, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, sets a new low. The former IMF chief may have been acquitted of attempted rape against a hotel maid, but is there anyone who can look at that swaggering silverback primate without a shudder? Ugh.

In the unlovely phrase of Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers, the encounter with Nafissatou Diallo was “brief but consensual”. Whatever the truth, we can be sure that the man who planned to be France’s president rampaged out of the hotel bathroom with only a droit de seigneur to cover his Tour Eiffel. Applying the indulgent term “Lothario” or “libertarian lover” to a priapic bully won’t do any more.

Anne Sinclair is badly out of step with her fellow countrywomen. France is unlikely ever to be the same again post-DSK. There has been a big increase in reports of sexual harassment. Sylvie Kauffmann, the first female editor of Le Monde, says: “There is a tendency among men to pretend that nothing has happened. In the establishment mind, this issue is not very important. But I would bet that the average voter may feel differently.”

Let’s hope Frenchwomen treat DSK’s political ambitions with all the tender concern he showed the hotel maid. And shame on his indulgent wife. If Tracey Emin needed a tent to contain the names of all the people she had slept with, DSK needs a marquee.

UK Riots: Young Yobs Back On Streets Despite David Cameron's Pledge

Young offenders who took part in the rioting and looting that blighted Britain’s streets this week are walking free from court without facing significant penalties.













The 12-year-old boy caught on camera stealing a bottle of wine from a Manchester Sainsbury's (left) hides his face as he leaves court last week.












11 year girl old rioter emerges from Nottingham Magistrates Court.












A 17-year-old girl from Croydon (pixelated, right) is accused taking two televisions from her local Richer Sounds hi-fi shop.












Riot suspect Chelsea Ives, who is an Olympics ambassador and met Sebastian Coe and visited the House of Commons.












Miss Leigh is arrested after she was filmed looting JD Sports in Tottenham.












11 year old boy and 22 year old Jason White (right) leave Highbury Magistrates Court after appearing on looting charges.


Despite David Cameron's promises that they would face "punishment", a string of juvenile criminals have been allowed to return home with their parents.

Several of the young rioters have been pictured in national newspapers committing crimes. Nonetheless, they retain the court's protection of legal anonymity.

The sentences being handed down have dismayed police and MPs after the Prime Minister's promise that rioters would "pay for what they have done".

Further undermining Mr Cameron's tough rhetoric, Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, backed the courts. He rejected the Prime Minister's call for new sentencing rules.

According to the Metropolitan Police, about half of the 240 people to appear in court so far charged with being involved in the London riots are younger than 18. The Met has arrested 1,009 people in connection with the disorder and 464 have been charged.

Mr Cameron this week promised offenders would not escape punishment because of their age, but several cases yesterday increased concerns that young rioters were not being held to account.

In separate cases in Manchester, two 12–year–old boys walked away from court after being involved in looting. One admitted stealing a £7.49 bottle of wine from a Sainsbury's store and was given a ninemonth referral order.

In court, the youngster appeared ashamed of his actions. But after the hearing, he and his mother swore at reporters.

The other Manchester boy was handed a four–month referral order after admitting using threatening words and behaviour. Several other youths also walked from Manchester city magistrates' court. A 16–year–old boy admitted handling £120 worth of stolen goods and was given a 10–month referral order and ordered to pay prosecutor costs of £120.

A 15–year–old girl was also given a 10–month referral order for stealing alcohol from a Tesco store after admitting burglary. And a 17–yearold was given 18 hours of community service after admitting possessing cannabis.

Mr Cameron has made repeated attempts to dismiss worries about sentencing, promising a hardline approach to rioters. Earlier this week, he warned that even the youngest offenders would face heavy penalties. "If you're old enough to commit the crime, you are old enough to face the punishment," he said. Ministers have spoken of removing benefits and council housing from those convicted of rioting or looting.

In Nottingham yesterday, an 11–year–old girl, who only left primary school last month, smirked and refused to apologise when put before a judge.

She admitted causing criminal damage on Tuesday by smashing shop windows. A judge gave her a nine–month referral order because of her age.

Referral orders are for those under the age of 18 and are a mixture of community work and intervention programmes to help rehabilitation or alter behaviour.

In London, an aspiring dance teacher was filmed as she took a flatscreen television from a looted store, then went back for a second.

The 17 year–old was part of a female gang that allegedly forced its way into the Croydon branch of Richer Sounds. She turned herself in after her picture appeared in the newspapers but retains her anonymity for legal reasons. She was remanded at Westminster magistrates' court to appear at a later date.

James Clappison, a Conservative member of the home affairs committee, said he was "very concerned" about young rioters' light sentences.

"The courts are failing to hand down sufficiently tough sentences," he said. "We need deterrent sentences, but we are not seeing that. Magistrates need to think again."

Police chiefs also expressed concern at soft sentences.

David Attoh, 18, this week admitted stealing two designer T–shirts in Hackney, east London. A magistrate told him that the two days he had spent in a cell awaiting his hearing was adequate punishment and freed him.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh of the Metropolitan Police said officers who had tackled rioters were dismayed by such sentences.

"Some of us have been disappointed by some of the early sentences we have seen, especially those officers who have been on the front line facing the violence and disorder," he said.

Mr Kavanagh said Tim Godwin, the acting Met Commissioner, had raised concerns about sentencing with ministers. MPs were yesterday recalled from their summer break to debate the riots and Tory backbenchers pressed Mr Cameron to make good on his promises.

Angie Bray, whose Ealing Central constituency saw serious violence, challenged Mr Cameron: "Can he assure my constituents that those who are found guilty will feel the full force of the law, including prison sentences?"

Mr Cameron replied: "People taking part in violent disorder should expect to go to prison."

He also suggested that sentencing rules could be toughened. "We are keeping under constant review whether the courts have the sentencing powers they need and we'll act if necessary," he told MPs.

Government sources said options for change include increasing magistrates' powers to jail offenders. Under current rules, magistrates can jail offenders for a maximum of six months. That could double to a year, sources said.

However, even as Mr Cameron was speaking, Mr Clarke appeared to rule out any change on sentencing. In a BBC Radio Four interview, Mr Clarke said "enough" prison sentences were being imposed.

He said: "The system is working."


David Cameron has promised to confront the “moral collapse” in British society that led to last week’s riots. "We will fight back against gangs, crime and the thugs who make people's lives hell and we will fight back hard, he said. "There is no 'them' and 'us' - there is us. We are all in this together, and we will mend our broken society - together."