The Met Police’s decision to flood the streets of London with 10,000 extra officers helped prevent a fourth night of rioting, a senior minister has said.
Michael Gove also praised «imaginative» action by chief constables in Manchester and Birmingham.
But some backbench MPs have criticised the police for failing to contain the spread of violence and lawlessness.
Labour MP Graham Stringer said Manchester’s chief constable had «a lot to answer for» after riots in the city.
Police were faced with what they called «extraordinary levels of violence» on the streets of Manchester and Salford, with fire bombs thrown at shops and windows smashed as looters made off with designer clothes, expensive electrical items and alcohol.
‘New phenomenon’
Birmingham also saw significant disturbances – along with a string of other towns and cities across the UK.
London, by contrast, was relatively calm after the number of police officers on the streets was increased from 6,000 to 16,000, many of them drafted in from other forces.
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This risks bringing the law into disrepute if the police look on as property is destroyed and the public are justifiably outraged”
Mark Reckless Conservative MP
Education Secretary Michael Gove told the BBC’s Newsnight: «One thing that is clear is that the additional deployment in London and the action that has been taken by imaginative chief constables in Manchester and Birmingham has meant that the level of violence that we have seen… has not been sustained.»
Mr Gove said police were having to deal with a «new phenomenon» of gangs putting aside tribal and territorial differences and were «collaborating to create havoc and criminality».
The education secretary clashed with Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman, accusing her of «demeaning herself» by attempting to link the riots to government cuts, in a likely foretaste of an emergency Commons debate on Thursday.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who recalled Parliament to debate the riots, will again chair the government’s Cobra emergency committee later on Wednesday morning amid press reports he has ordered the police to get tough with rioters.
‘Fear of criticism’
The Home Office played down reports Mr Cameron had authorised police to use baton rounds if necessary, pointing out that that plastic bullets are on an «approved list» of tools and do not require special permission.
The Commons home affairs committee will, meanwhile, meet in private on Thursday to consider terms of reference for an inquiry into the riots.
Committee member, Conservative MP Mark Reckless, has said he plans to question senior police officers expected to give evidence to it on whether «fear of criticism held them back from taking more robust action».
Writing on his website, Mr Reckless said: «There appears to have been a trend for the police to sometimes stand back in the face of breaches of public order and to focus on gathering video evidence to support later prosecutions.
«This risks bringing the law into disrepute if the police look on as property is destroyed and the public are justifiably outraged.»
‘Copy cat’
Labour MP Graham Stringer also criticised police tactics and said they should have known the riots were coming.
«The police need to get control of the streets, which they have failed to do,» said the MP for Blackley and Broughton.
Manchester’s Assistant Chief Constable Gary Shewan admitted the level of violence in the city – as rioters rampaged through the city centre looting shops – had «taken us all by surprise».
But Labour’s Hazel Blears said the riots, in Manchester and her neighbouring Salford constituency, were «very much copy cat behaviour» by known criminals fuelled by «wall to wall coverage» of violence elsewhere.
Source: bbc.co.uk