Law and order
What the riots mean for Ken Clarke
The more we learn about the riots, the more it is becoming clear that experienced criminals were responsible for a lot of the looting. The Standard reports today that in… Continue reading
22 CommentsCameron: I’m a common sense Conservative
David Cameron weathered an awkward interview on the Today programme earlier this morning, in which the Strategic Defence Review was savaged and the recent riots were compared to the Bullingdon Club,… Continue reading
46 CommentsMiliband re-opens campaign with same old weapons
Party politics is back from the summer and the summer’s events are defining the strategic dividing lines. Ed Miliband reopened hostilities by threatening to force a vote on police cuts.… Continue reading
35 CommentsThe danger of disproportionate sentences
It’s great that hundreds of looters are being punished properly, and the police are to be congratulated for working hard to find the thugs responsible for damage during the riots.… Continue reading
48 CommentsClegg paints the world yellow
Nick Clegg laughed-off the dousing of blue paint he received in Glasgow yesterday, like one of Noel Edmonds’ unwitting victims. Today, Clegg has turned into the grinning douser: drenching his… Continue reading
38 CommentsCameron needs to take this opportunity
Libya has elbowed the riots off the front page. But, in the medium-term, how Cameron responds to them remains one of the big tests of his premiership. In the Evening… Continue reading
30 CommentsThe riots, Whitehall and universality
Away from the excitement of Libya and Colonel Gaddafi’s singular definition of ‘tactical retreat’, the post-riots debate continues. The government has announced that unemployed offenders will have to work a minimum… Continue reading
18 CommentsAn encouraging start for the new Libya
The press conference by Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the National Transitional Council, was encouraging. Jalil stressed that he wished Libya to be a country governed by the rule… Continue reading
9 CommentsHuman rights wrangle
A set-to has broken out this morning over the Human Rights Act. David Cameron has declared that he is going to fight the Human Rights Act and its interpretation. Cameron… Continue reading
57 CommentsCameron: Governments should provide enough prison places to satisfy the courts
The row over sentencing rioters has morphed into a row about prison numbers and safety. Cathy Newman has been issuing a steady stream of tweets all afternoon, revealing that the… Continue reading
14 CommentsRiot sentencing row brews
David Cameron promised that looters would feel the full force of the law. Courts have been sitting round the clock holding defendants on remand and issuing stern sentences. This is causing… Continue reading
49 CommentsCameron’s missed opportunity
As David noted earlier, the big headline in Nick Clegg’s speech this morning is that the government will hold some kind of inquiry into the riots after all. This climb… Continue reading
31 CommentsClegg joins the jamboree
Cometh the hour, cometh Nick Clegg. The Independent reports that the Deputy Prime Minister is to announce that first-time offenders convicted of looting but not given custodial sentences will be… Continue reading
25 Comments“Zero tolerance”
The law and order debate has come full circle: the coalition is going to be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. David Cameron’s promise that crime… Continue reading
39 CommentsFrom the archives: the Bill Bratton edition
As James Forsyth says today, No10 wants Bill Bratton to not just take charge of the Met but start a revolution in policing. A ‘Stop Bratton’ campaign has duly begun… Continue reading
16 CommentsBoris’ long-game strategy
Has the sheen come off BoJo? The question is echoing around some virtual corridors in Westminster this weekend. The Mayor of London was caught off guard by the recent riots… Continue reading
35 CommentsBlunt’s flawed rehabilitation programme
The decisions of Crispin Blunt, the prisons’ minister, are hard to fathom. One wonders why-as the Daily Mail reports today — he allowed a man convicted of killing five people… Continue reading
16 CommentsCameron lands Supercop as police acrimony mounts
Internationally renowned policeman Bill Bratton has agreed to advise the government on how to defeat gang culture. Bratton’s role is not official, but he will arrive for duty in the… Continue reading
54 CommentsIn response to CoffeeHousers
CoffeeHousers have been generous in their response to my post on the need for an inquiry. I thought I’d respond in a post, rather than the comments. 1) Why rush… Continue reading
54 CommentsWhy we need a post-riot inquiry
Today we learnt that David Cameron is looking at the experience of Los Angeles’ recovery from the 1992 riots. The first lesson he should learn is the value of an… Continue reading
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