Christopher Pincher Condemns Looting Across Britain

Christopher Pincher, the Member of Parliament for Tamworth, is returning from his holiday to Westminster for the recall of Parliament on Thursday following mass disorder and looting in London, Birmingham and other cities around Britain.  At the top of his agenda is action to give the police the “rules and the tools” to deal with this new and frightening phenomenon.  He says he is appalled by the chaotic scenes in the capital and other cities of the United Kingdom.

Commenting he said:
“The actions of these mindless thugs and thieves are despicable.  This is not a protest.  It is wild and wanton riot, arson and looting for no purpose at all.  I support the police in London and Birmingham in their endeavours against these criminals, and I praise all blue-light services in their efforts to protect innocent members of the public and their properties.   I am encouraged by the Government’s response to increase police numbers in our capital city, but more needs to be done so these violent vandals feel the full force of the law.  We police by consent in this country.  But I feel there will be widespread public consent for the toughest measures to deal with this sort of crime.  Some modern form of the old Riot Act should be considered to act quickly to restore order.  Once it is invoked the people should know that unless they disperse, the police can use all measures – CS gas, rubber bullets or water cannon – to break up the mob.  Tools such as these will allow smaller numbers of officers to deal with looters and rioters who were roaming the streets like wolves.”

He we on:
“We also need to ensure discredited legislation like the Human Rights Act does not get in the way of action.  Frankly I think it should be abolished. When mobs of arsonists and looters start acting like packs of animals, in my opinion they lose their so called Human Rights.  I expect the courts to act swiftly and without clemency against anyone found guilty of these crimes.”

Finally he said:
“Parents also have a responsibility to ask themselves the question “where is my child tonight?”  So many of the criminals we have seen on the streets are young teenagers.  Parents must understand that if their children are old enough to commit these crimes, they are old enough to face the dire consequences of their actions.”

Mr. Pincher made clear he intends to speak up for good, law abiding people in Tamworth who want to see action to maintain the law.  He also praised Staffordshire Police and the Tamworth Force for taking steps to protect order in our own community.  He spoke with Deputy Chief Constable Douglas Paxton on Tuesday who assured Mr. Pincher the local police are ready to deal with any trouble makers in the county.