David Cameron has unveiled tough new measures to crack down on rioters as MPs returned to parliament to debate the crisis.
The Prime Minister revealed the government is looking at introduce new sentencing powers and confirmed extra police officers would remain on the streets of London over the weekend.
He said closing down social network sites, a ban on facemasks and powers of curfew would also be considered.
The news came as it emerged that 1009 people had been arrested in connection with violence, disorder and looting in London since Saturday, of whom 464 have been charged.
It was also revealed that an 11-year-old girl was among those who had been charged with criminal damage in Nottingham after she was caught with a group of youths smashing store windows in the city.
Addressing a packed House of Commons, Mr Cameron condemned the rioting and looting as “criminality pure and simple.”
“We will not put up with this in our country,” he added.
“We will not allow a culture of fear to exist on our streets and we will do whatever it takes to restore law and order and to rebuild our communities.”‘Simply preposterous’He rejected any suggestion there was a “justifiable causal link” between the widespread rioting in four English cities and the shooting by the police of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in Tottenham.
“It is simply preposterous for anyone to suggest that people looting in Tottenham at the weekend, still less three days later in Salford, were in any way doing so because of the death of Mark Duggan,” he said.
He pledged all necessary action to “help mend our broken society” and promised action against gangs.
He said police would be given new powers to demand suspected criminals remove masks and ministers would also consider if there was a need for curfews.
Ways of stopping people plotting disorder through social networks and the possibility of the army taking on some police roles to free up more for the front line are also being considered.
“Nothing should be off the table. Every contingency is being looked at,” Mr Cameron said.
Labour leader Ed Miliband repeated calls to reconsider planned police cuts in England and Wales in the wake of the riots.
But Mr Cameron insisted any reduction in police budgets would not impact on front line activity.Scots’ efforts”We will still be able to surge as many police officers on to the streets as we have in recent days,” he said.
The Prime Minister added that the government would look to the success of programmes to tackle gang culture like one used by Strathclyde Police to see if lessons could be learned.
The past few years has seen concentrated efforts and financial investment by the Scottish Government and Strathclyde Police to tackle the problem in Glasgow.
The force set up a dedicated gangs task force in March 2008 to serve as a specialist unit to identify, find and arrest gang members involved in crime.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson welcomed Scottish officers being drafted in to help colleagues in England during the riots.
“Many people in Scotland will have family and friends in London and other English cities and have followed events over the last week with great concern,” he said.
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user StuartBannocks.