David Cameron is facing growing cabinet pressure to rethink the coalition's policing cuts in the wake of the deaths of three young Birmingham men, who were hit by a car during violent disturbances in the city.
As the Police Federation warned of a "catastrophe" if similar riots erupted after the cuts were introduced, a senior government source said the Home Office would be advised to take a fresh look at its plans to cut £2bn from police funding over the next few years. "The optics have changed," the source told the Guardian.
Cameron said the cuts would not lead to a "reduction in visible policing". He is expected to announce some emergency funding when he addresses the Commons on Thursday, to cover the extra costs of policing this week's riots, as well as the possibility of insurance claims against police on the grounds they provided no protection to businesses in a riot.
But there are fears in Whitehall that the Home Office plan to make savings in the police service could leave an "exposed flank" in any future riots. London's mayor Boris Johnson warned the government against cutting numbers. "The case was always pretty frail and it's been substantially weakened. This is not the time to think about making substantial cuts in police numbers," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/10/england-riots-police-birmingham-deadThis is almost predictable... this is the law and order that inevitably comes out. But it is also the first chink in austerity armor.
Oh and disclaimer, getting it does not mean one condones them.
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