Politics latest: Army won't be used, minister says - as home secretary says police reserves were not deployed over weekend (2024)

There are growing calls for parliament to be recalled, so MPs can debate the recent unrest.

First off, it's worth noting that parliament is not sitting due to the summer recess - with politicians set to return to Westminster on 2 September.

While this is a time for MPs and their staff to take holidays, they do also continue working in their constituencies.

Technically, the power to interrupt this break lies with the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

However, he can only do so following "representations" from ministers, according to the House of Commons Library.

If an order is made to recall parliament, it usually sits two days from when the announcement made - for example, if the Speaker said today he was planning to recall MPs, they would likely sit on Wednesday.

Currently, there is no ability for MPs outside of government to trigger a recall of parliament.

While the House of Lords has its own set of rules, it usually reconvenes at the same time as the Commons.

The last time the Commons was recalled during a recess was amid the evacuation of Kabul in August 2021.

Other cases include the death of Prince Philip in April 2021, the death of Jo Cox in June 2017, and the riots in August 2011.

Sir Keir Starmer is set to chair a COBRA meeting in just over half an hour.

People are starting to arrive at Downing Street - including chief of the defence staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin.

With calls growing for parliament to be reconvened, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was asked about the topic on the morning media round.

Speaking to LBC, she said: "That's not what we're doing right now.

"What we're doing right now is keeping in close contact with MPs."

The prime minister needs to issue the recall to parliament, rather than MPs or the Speaker being able to do so.

John Healey, the MP for Wentworth, is at one of the hotels attacked in the riots last night in Rotherham.

He says all of those asylum seekers in the venue have now been moved to places of safety.

Mr Healey is also defence secretary in the government.

He is asked by journalists if the army will get involved in response to the riots.

He says "No".

"South Yorkshire Police were strongly supported by police forces from West Yorkshire, from Cheshire, even the British Transport Police came.

"[They have an] established system of what they call mutual aid, where you've got police forces coordinating together, training with the same public order, street disorder techniques.

"It's the police's responsibility to respond first.

"And currently, they've got the means to do it, and they will make sure that people stay safe."

Diane Abbott, the veteran Labour MP has joined her colleague Dawn Butler to call for parliament to be recalled.

Reform leader Nigel Farage has also called for MPs to be returned to Westminster.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has now joined the calls for parliament to be recalled.

Posting on social media, he says he is "totally appalled by the levels of violence seen in the last couple of days".

The Reform leader says "we should not discount the use of the army if the situation were to deteriorate further".

He goes on to blame "soft" policing of Black Lives Matter protests for creating the appearance of "two-tier policing".

Mr Farage then claims a "population explosion without integration was always going to end badly".

"We must have a more honest debate about these vital issues and give people the confidence that there are political solutions that are relevant to them," he says.

"A recall of parliament would be an appropriate start to this."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is asked if foreign states have been involved in the riots and unrest that has been seen.

Her Conservative predecessor, James Cleverly, said it had all the "hallmarks" of foreign interference.

Ms Cooper says"there can be this sort of amplification of social media activity online".

But she says the government's "focus" at the moment is "on local groups and organisations".

She says some of these are "far-right extremists" and also "local looters who came to join in and committed crimes".

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper tells Sky News there "has to be a reckoning" for those taking part in riots.

Ms Cooper says: "There will be people who were thinking they were going on their summer holidays this week, and instead they will face a knock on the door from the police.

"They will face arrest and a prison cell, a police cell while they wait for trial, in order to make sure that they do pay the price for what they have done."

The home secretary says she also expects action to be taken against those who were "posting criminal material online".

And she criticises social media companies - saying the tech giants need to "take some responsibility" for what is posted on their platforms.

Asked if there are enough police officers to deal with the unrest, Ms Cooper says forces have reserves that were not deployed this weekend.

But she says there is a "longer-term issue about policing in the UK".

Shadow home secretary James Cleverly is speaking to Sky News.

He starts off by condemning the riots - agreeing with the prime minister that they are motivated by "far-right extremism".

The former home secretary says the scenes were "completely unjustified" and "obviously motivated by racism".

The Tory frontbencher vehemently states the riots are not reflecting "a wider national mood".

But he also criticises Sir Keir Starmer.

The PM is "right" to have taken firm action - but it "should and could have been quicker".

He says it's worrying COBRA is only being convened today and that the PM only revealed he had cancelled his holiday on Sunday.

Mr Cleverly says that, if he was still running the Home Office, he would have called a COBRA meeting much sooner.

The forum is vital to make decisions around things like funding, deployment of resources and liaison between local government, intelligence and security services and the national government, he adds.

Asked about what caused the riots, Mr Cleverly says he was aware of "pernicious" online culture when he was home secretary.

He says this was "perpetrated by the far right, amplified, both within the UK, and beyond our borders".

What has happened in the past seven days "has got all the hallmarks of something which has been stoked by that".

The prime minister has vowed to do "whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice" as he addressed the nation amid rioting in UK streets.

"I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, either directly or those whipping up this disorder online," Sir Keir Starmer said in a televised address.

Referring to a violent attack on a hotel in Rotherham thought to have housed migrants, he said: "There is no justification for taking this action."

Masked men had launched pieces of wood and let off fire extinguishers at police officers outside the Holiday Inn Express, and some stormed into the hotel.

"People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we have seen Muslim communities targeted and attacks on mosques," the prime minister said.

Sir Keir said Muslims had been targeted along with other minority communities, adding there were "Nazi salutes in the streets".

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