
Among the post-riot measures to be enacted in Britain, Reuters reports, will be controls on face coverings and the possible use of the army to suppress future disturbances.
Britain will crack down on gangs and may call in army support if this week's riots are repeated, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday, saying he would not allow a "culture of fear" to exist on the streets.
The government will also give the police powers to demand people remove face coverings after many looters who ransacked shops during riots in London and other English cities this week wore masks to avoid being identified.
For what criminal activities (such as looting) is the appropriate response to demand someone remove a mask, instead of being arresting for the crime?
The Guardian has full details on Prime Minister David Cameron's report today in Parliament:
• Instant messaging services will be reviewed. "We are working with the Police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality," he said.
• The police will have new powers to order people to remove facemasks. "On facemasks, currently [the police] can only remove these in a specific geographical location and for a limited time," Cameron said. "So I can announce today that we are going to give the police the discretion to remove face coverings under any circumstances where there is reasonable suspicion that they are related to criminal activity."
• Curfew powers will be reviewed. "On dealing with crowds, we are also looking at the use of existing dispersal powers and whether any wider power of curfew is necessary," he said.
Francesca O’Brien, the Conservative candidate for the Gower constituency in the forthcoming UK elections, said that people appearing on the TV show “Benefits Steet” needed “putting down”. In the posts following the broadcast of the first episode of Benefits Street five years ago, Ms O’Brien said: “Benefit Street..anyone else watching this?? Wow, these people are […]
In a unanimous 11-0 decision, the UK’s Supreme Court today ruled that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s supension of parliament was unlawful. Parliament is therefore still in session as Brexit looms and BoJo has to deal with it. Mr Johnson suspended – or prorogued – Parliament for five weeks earlier this month, but the court said […]
British cops have an (unearned?) reputation for restraint. So it’s always wild to see them do things that even the rootin’-tootin’ murderers of America’s thin blue line would balk at. Here’s one simply ramming a suspect with his cruiser, on foot: “There’s a myth that if they take their helmet off or take to the […]
In the early days of the web, everyone wanted a .com domain for their site. As a result, all the good ones got snapped up. But .com no longer has the cachet it once did. In fact, many new businesses and individuals are opting for other top-level domain extensions. One of the most memorable is […]
When the SNES launched back in the early 1990s, it changed gaming forever. One of the innovations was a gamepad with four action buttons — something that has remained a constant on controllers ever since. The 8BitDo SN30 Bluetooth Gamepad brings that iconic design up to date, with Bluetooth connectivity and support for multiple platforms. […]
After a long day at work, cooking a meal from scratch can seem like too much trouble. Unfortunately, the alternative is usually something unhealthy. Enter the Mellow Sous Vide Precision Cooker. This compact water bath uses cutting-edge technology to cook meat and veggies at the perfect temperature for exactly the right amount of time. It […]