‘Sickened’ Cameron recalls parliament after riots
By Alex Stevenson Follow @alex__stevenson
Parliament will be recalled on Thursday to debate the riots taking place in Britain's cities, David Cameron has announced.
The prime minister said he wanted to see MPs unite to "stand together in condemnation of these crimes" and "in determination to rebuild these communities" in a debate later this week.
Mr Cameron, who returned from holiday last night and is now asking MPs to do the same, said he was "sickened" by the violence which has swept across London and other major cities in the last three days.
The government's emergency committee Cobra was chaired by the prime minister this morning. He told reporters outside No 10 that there would be 16,000 police officers on London's streets tonight, compared to 6,000 last night.
"People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and make them safe for the law-abiding," he said.
"This is criminality, pure and simple. It has to be confronted and defeated.
"I'm determined that justice will be done and these people will see the consequences of their actions.
"I have this very clear message for those people who are responsible: you will feel the full force of the law."
The decision to recall parliament means MPs will interrupt their lengthy summer holiday to return to Westminster on Thursday, giving ministers the chance to assess politicians' mood about how to respond to the violence.
Parliament is only recalled for events of major national importance. Previous recalls were triggered by the invasion of the Falkland Islands and the 9/11 terror attacks on the US in 2001.
