Cameron to deliver ‘fightback’ address

DAVID CAMERON will promise to confront the “slow-motion moral collapse” behind last week’s rioting today as the fallout continues from the orgy of destruction that swept parts of England.

In what Downing Street dubbed a “fightback” address, the prime minister will seek to seize on the disorder as a springboard to renew his crusade to fix Britain’s “broken” society.

Decades of social problems “exploded in our face”, he will declare, partly due to a state system that incentivised “some of the worst aspects of human nature”.

In an apparent nod to questions over his handling of the crisis, he will also insist that he will “not be found wanting” as he orders a fundamental review of all government policy.

But as the relative party unity in the immediate aftermath cracks, Labour leader Ed Miliband will accuse the premier of resorting to knee-jerk responses to the violent scenes.

In head-to-head speeches, Miliband will renew his calls for a full-scale inquiry and accuse Cameron of being “scared” to look into the real causes of social breakdown.

However, Home Secretary Theresa May, who will chair a meeting of the Government’s emergency committee Cobra this morning to discuss the next steps, delivered a sharp retort.

It was her job, she said, to tell the police what the public wanted them to do.

“The public were not happy about what they were seeing on the streets,” she added, so ministers stepped in to provide direction.

Nor would cuts be scaled back, she said, insisting officers could be redeployed from desk jobs to ensure the visible presence demanded by voters was maintained.

She spoke as courts sat throughout the weekend to deal with the flood of alleged rioters and looters being arrested by the police — expected to reach 3,000 in London alone.

In his speech, Cameron will say the riots must be “a wake-up call for our country” and add, in an apparent riposte to Labour’s calls for an inquiry: “We know what’s gone wrong.”

“Social problems that have been festering for decades have exploded in our face. Now, just as people wanted criminals robustly confronted on our street, so they want to see these problems taken on and defeated. Our security fightback must be matched by a social fightback,” he will say.

Meanwhile, a police officer yesterday said seeing his working dog suffer a fractured skull after being struck by a brick during the riots in Tottenham was like seeing his “best friend and closest colleague” injured.

Constable Phil Wells said it was “very emotional” when three-year-old German Shepherd Obi was struck by a missile on Tottenham High Road last Saturday. “Obi is trained in public order, and that may be dispersing a crowd or pushing them back. We were on a stationary point when we came under heavy bombardment. There were lots of missiles coming at us, bottles, bricks, petrol bombs, street furniture, too many to count and one hit Obi on the head.”

Wells said: “Although he is not a pet, when he is at home it is family time and he is part of our family.

“To see your best friend and work colleague get injured while at work is difficult but he is getting a lot support from everyone and he will be back fighting fit.

“He is my best friend and to see him get injured, to see him on a theatre table and you’re not sure what has happened and you’re not sure if it’s touch and go, of course it is very emotional.”