To date, summer recalls have always been a symbolic show of reaction to enormous events – such as after the 1998 Omagh bombings – that seldom produce any actual legislation or specific responses. But they can provide a sense of unity and authority.
The parliamentary session followed two nights of record police numbers on the streets of London – and in Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol.
In London, as all police leave was cancelled, the number of officers on patrol was increased from 6,000 on Monday – when Croydon, Hackney, Clapham, Ealing, Enfield and parts of Notting Hill saw businesses and private residences destroyed – to 16,000.
Although the first riots, in Tottenham in north London, coincided with local dissatisfaction at police explanations about the fatal shooting of an armed local man, all of the subsequent riots appeared to be driven by looting with ring-leaders reportedly using untraceable BlackBerry PIN messaging and, to a lesser extent, other social networking media.
Tottenham’s local Labour Party MP, barrister David Lammy, grew up in the area and said the most recent disturbances there were nothing like the race riots of 30 years ago but an attack on the people of Tottenham themselves by anti-social elements.
But within 48 hours it had moved well beyond Tottenham as far as Ealing in west London and Croydon in the south as agitators popped up across London, by car and – in the case of an attack on Sony’s distribution centre in Enfield, by bicycle – and by foot, to act with local mobs. Sports shops, convenience stores, banks, jewellers, pawn shops and – in Portobello – a Michelin-starred restaurant full of well-heeled diners were all targets.
David Cameron repeated his warning that anyone old enough to carry out the crimes depicted across 24-hours news networks and Twitter will be deemed old enough to serve the consequent prison sentence if convicted. He even promised to speed up court procedures. In this country, the age of criminal responsibility is 10 years old.
London Mayor Boris Johnson, who eventually broke his North American holiday in the Rocky Mountains, to return to take personal charge faced angry residents and shopkeepers in places such as Clapham wanting to know why police waited for hours to confront and tackle looters, is also aiming to restore his personal authority as his rival Ken Livingstone accused him of cutting police numbers and therefore their ability to effectively respond.
Mr Johnson promised that, without losing sight of the fact the rioters and looters themselves were solely responsible for the devastation, he would seek explanations for the police response times and tactics.
