Sir Hugh Orde denies Theresa May riot claim

 

Police, rather than MPs, devised the "more robust" approach that restored calm after four nights of rioting in England, a senior officer says.

Association of Chief Police Officers president Sir Hugh Orde said these tactics were employed because more police officers were made available.
Home Secretary Theresa May had said she ordered every UK police chief to cancel all staff leave to deal with the riots.
But Sir Hugh said she had "no power whatsoever" to make such an order.
Meanwhile, 68-year-old Richard Mannington Bowes, who was critically injured in an attack as he tried to stamp out a fire during riots in Ealing, has died.
Police have launched a murder inquiry and issued a CCTV image of a suspect.
'Political interference'
Police say four other deaths - a man found shot in a car in Croydon and three men hit by a car in Birmingham - may be linked to the recent disorder.
In other developments:

• Magistrates have again been sitting throughout the night in London to hear the cases of some those arrested during the violence. Many face charges of handling stolen goods, or breaches of public order. Courts also sat late into the evening in Birmingham and Manchester


• Prime Minister David Cameron announced a crackdown on facemasks and a review on the use of curfews during an emergency debate in Parliament


• Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh has admitted the force did not have enough officers on duty to deal with the chaos that erupted on Monday night


• A man has been arrested over an attack on a Malaysian student who was assaulted by rioters in East London and mugged by people who had initially appeared to be helping him


• More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition calling for anyone convicted of taking part in the riots to lose any benefits they receive - becoming the first such petition to be considered for a Commons debate


• The government has launched a website with advice to the public on how to cope with the unrest


• Saturday's Premier League match between Tottenham and Everton at White Hart Lane has been postponed

The Met Police has made 1051 arrests since the rioting began on Saturday, and 591 people have been charged.
West Midlands Police have arrested 445 people and 178 have so far been arrested in Manchester and Salford.

• Man attacked in Ealing riot dies


• Met boss admits riot shortcomings

"The police faced an unprecedented situation, unique circumstances," said Sir Hugh, who represents chief police officers in England and Wales.

"The fact that politicians chose to come back [from holiday] is an irrelevance in terms of the tactics that were by then developing," he told BBC Two's Newsnight.
"The more robust policing tactics you saw were not a function of political interference; they were a function of the numbers being available to allow the chief constables to change their tactics."
Police Federation vice chairman Simon Reed said the suggestion that police changed their approach after the government stepped in was "a cheap shot".
"To say it publicly is denigrating not just chief officers, it's denigrating the brave officers that were working those nights. They are basically saying they were not brave enough to do their jobs. So I know today that police officers up and down the country will be very slighted by what this government has now said."
When asked if budget cuts would reduce public safety, Sir Orde said it would "inevitably" lead to fewer police officers, which would therefore make the task more difficult.
"We need to have some very honest conversations with government about what we stop doing if we are to maintain frontline service delivery at current levels," he said.
"It's the 20% cuts in the present spending period that will lead to less police officers, we should be very clear about that."
Police 'surge'
Several Labour MPs have called for the government to reverse planned police cuts.
But during an emergency parliamentary debate on the riots on Thursday, Mr Cameron insisted the cuts were "totally achievable" without any reduction in the visible policing presence and said that a "surge" of officers - as seen in recent days - would still be possible in future.
Mr Cameron also told MPs that it had become clear there had been problems in the initial police response to the disorder.
"There were simply far too few police deployed on to our streets and the tactics they were using weren't working," said the prime minister.

Sir Hugh Orde has dismissed Theresa May's claims that she ordered police leave to be cancelled

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh has also said the Met did not have enough officers on duty on Monday, and those that were had been stretched as riots, fires and looting broke out across the capital.
On Monday night about 6,000 police officers were on duty, including officers from neighbouring forces.
That number has since been increased to 16,000, with reinforcements from other forces around the country, and they will remain in place over the weekend.
Sir Hugh has been seen as a leading contender to become the next Metropolitan police commissioner.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said his comments would raise doubts as to whether he could work alongside the home secretary in that role, should he apply for it.
The riots first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan, 29, by police.
Mr Duggan's death is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.