David Cameron: 'The tactics the police were using weren't working'The police admitted they got their riot tactics wrong, the prime minister has said, as he announced measures to help homeowners and businesses.David Cameron told MPs the riots in cities across England were "criminality pure and simple", but there were "far too few police" on the streets.
He announced a crackdown on facemasks and a review of curfews during an emergency recall of Parliament.
More than 1,500 arrests have been made since the unrest began on Saturday.
The prime minister earlier chaired a meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra to discuss the violence with cabinet ministers. Mr Cameron told MPs that it had become clear there had been problems in the initial police response to the disorder.
Former Cabinet minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind also raised concerns that officers were instructed to "stand and observe looting".
Mr Cameron told MPs: "There were simply far too few police deployed on to our streets and the tactics they were using weren't working.
"Police chiefs have been frank with me about why this happened.
"Initially the police treated the situation too much as a public order issue - rather than essentially one of crime.
"The truth is that the police have been facing a new and unique challenge with different people doing the same thing - basically looting - in different places all at the same time."
The prime minister promised he would do "whatever it takes" to restore order to the streets as he set out a range of measures aimed at helping businesses and homeowners affected by the riots.
They included:
To look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via social media when "we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality"
Plans to look at whether wider powers of curfew and dispersal orders were needed
New powers for police to order people to remove facemasks where criminality is suspected
Courts could be given tougher sentencing powers
Landlords could be given more power to evict criminals from social housing
Plans to extend the system of gang injunctions across the country and build on anti-gang programmes, similar to those in the US
He said the government would meet the cost of "legitimate" compensation claims and the time limit for applying would increase from 14 to 42 days
A £10m Recovery Scheme to provide additional support to councils in making areas "safe, clean and clear"
A new £20m high street support scheme to help affected businesses get back up and running quickly
Plans for the government to meet the immediate costs of emergency accommodation for families made homeless
He said: "This is a time for our country to pull together.
"To the law abiding people who play by the rules, and who are the overwhelming majority in our country, I say: the fightback has begun, we will protect you, if you've had your livelihood and property damaged, we will compensate you. We are on your side.
"And to the lawless minority, the criminals who have taken what they can get, I say this: We will track you down, we will find you, we will charge you, we will punish you. You will pay for what you have done."
Mr Cameron ruled out bringing in the Army, but added: "It is my responsibility to make sure that every contingency is looked at - including whether there are tasks that the Army could undertake that would free up more police for the front line."
He said a reinforced police presence of 16,000 officers on the streets of London would remain in place over the weekend.
Police cuts
On Wednesday a deputation of Labour MPs from London went to the Home Office to demand a "moratorium" on plans to reduce numbers in the Metropolitan Police.
And in the Commons, Labour leader Ed Miliband repeated their calls to reconsider police cuts in the wake of the riots.
He said: "The events of the last few days have been a stark reminder to us all that police on our streets make our communities safer and make the public feel safer.
"Given the absolute priority the public attaches to a visible and active police presence, does the prime minister understand why they would think it is not right that he goes ahead with the cuts to police numbers?
"Will he now think again on this issue?"
Mr Cameron insisted the cuts were "totally achievable" without any reduction in the visible policing presence on the streets.
"At the end of this process of making sure our police budgets are affordable, we will still be able to surge as many police on to the streets as we have in recent days in London, in Wolverhampton, in Manchester," he said.
"I think it's important people understand that."
BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said Lib Dem sources had told him there is "absolute coalition unity" on reducing police budgets and the cuts will not be reversed.
Meanwhile, Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, has told the BBC its members have voted unanimously to hold an inquiry into the causes of the riots.
It will also look at the role of social networking, the police response and police resources.
Today marks the second time in less than a month that MPs have been recalled for an emergency session - the first was for the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World newspaper.
In other developments:
More than 90,000 people have signed an online petition calling for anyone convicted of taking part in the riots to lose any benefits they receive
Up to 250 officers were sent from Scotland to help police in the Midlands and North of England deal with rioting and disorder
Police in London say they have more than 100 arrest warrants to work through "in the coming hours and days"
The government launches 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
Meanwhile, the Met Police have made a total of 922 arrests and charged 401 people in connection with violence, disorder and looting in the capital since Saturday night.
More than 330 people have been arrested in the West Midlands and a further 140 people have been arrested so far over the trouble in Manchester and Salford.
Courts sat through the night in London, Manchester and Solihull in the West Midlands to deal with people arrested during the four nights of disturbances, with those appearing in court mainly facing disorder and burglary charges.
Mr Cameron said anyone convicted of violent disorder would be sent to prison.
But Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said some officers who had been on the streets had voiced disappointment at the sentences handed out so far.
Mr Kavanagh added that there had since been "constructive conversations" between the home secretary, the Met commissioner and the courts.
London Mayor Boris Johnson praised the police, and insisted the authorities were not "complacent" despite the violence subsiding.
Met Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin paid tribute to his "brave" officers after the meeting, saying they had "faced unprecedented violence and damage and criminality and looting" and that "any suggestion the officers stood back is wrong".
A candle-lit vigil has been held for Haroon Jahan, 21, Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, who died when they were hit by a car in Birmingham on Tuesday night.
Police have been given more time to question a 32-year-old man on suspicion of murder.
Mr Cameron said the deaths were "truly dreadful" and offered his condolences to the men's families.
The riots first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan, 29, by police.
Mr Cameron told MPs his death was being investigated "thoroughly and independently" by the police watchdog.
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