Ed Miliband statement on riots

By Ed Miliband / @ed_miliband

We have all been shocked by the scenes overnight, with violence spreading beyond London to Manchester, Salford, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. This violence and vandalism is disgraceful criminal behaviour. There can be no excuses for it.

The priority now is doing what is necessary to end the sense of fear many families are now feeling.

We continue to need the strongest possible police response to restore calm and security to our streets. There must be no no-go areas for the police.

But as well as vigilance against the spread of violence we are calling from a rapid response from the government to help those communities hit hardest by these riots to get back on their feet as quickly as possible. We need now to respond to the very real sense from those affected that they won’t stand by and allow their communities to be bullied by this violence.

As well as ensuring public safety we need immediate help for those people who have lost homes and businesses. As we see in natural disasters like floods, we need focused support so that these victims of the violence get the support they need.

That means the government working with the insurance industry to put in place fast track procedures with immediate effect so that individuals and businesses making claims do not have to wait for the money they need to start putting things right.

It also means providing targeted financial support for the most affected councils. They must be given access to funds from central government to address the damage to public spaces and infrastructure, and to provide the immediate support for those innocent victims of this violence who have seen their homes and small businesses damaged or destroyed.

Those who have been the immediate victims of this inexcusable violence ca nnot be left to cope alone.