’24 hour notice’ for NI water cannons
Water cannons from Northern Ireland are on stand-by to be sent to England at 24 hours notice, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
After four nights running of serious violence – including looting and arson attacks – Mr Cameron declared the police “fight-back” was underway.
All officer leave for every force in England and Wales has been cancelled, in a bid to bring an end to the shocking scenes across London and a number of other major cities.
“Police are already authorised to use baton rounds and we agreed at Cobra that, while they are not currently needed, we now have in place contingency plans for water cannons to be available at 24 hours’ notice,” Mr Cameron said.
Six water cannons are held by police in Northern Ireland, where they have been used in a number of riot situations – but there aren’t any such vehicles in England, Scotland or Wales.
Former PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde has also said the water cannons aren’t needed in England “at the moment”, but added that they had been “vital” in Northern Ireland.
“A water cannon buys you space. It is not a technique you can use in any other real policing environment,” he said.
“They are very heavy pieces of equipment – you need a number of them to be effective.”
Senior police officers had been reluctant to respond to the looting and arson attacks in England with force.
More than 100 officers from London’s Metropolitan Police have already been injured, with some even requiring surgery.
A member of the public was shot dead in his car amid disorder in south London on Monday night, while three men died in Birmingham after being hit by a car on Tuesday night.
