What caused the Bradford riots?

Water-cannon could be used to prevent looting

Local MPs in Bradford are meeting the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, on Monday, to discuss the implications of a weekend of violence.

The three Labour members - Gerry Sutcliffe, Marsha Singh and Terry Rooney - seem surprisingly clear on their analysis both of what happened and what needs to be done.

They believe that a comparatively small number of young Muslim men - perhaps numbering no more than 250 - are operating outside normal social controls, many of them connected with the drugs-trade.

According to this theory, even small-scale provocation by far-right groups was enough to set off the destructive, essentially criminal, rage displayed on the streets of the city on Saturday night.

Is David Blunkett hearing the best advice about the causes of the riots?

And the MPs are agreed, too, about the proper response: it may well have been at their urging that Mr Blunkett came out with his strong line on the World This Weekend, yesterday, threatening the use of water-cannon and other measures to break up riots more quickly.

But is Mr Blunkett hearing the best advice - and does it reflect the complexity of the situation in cities like Bradford?

Many Asian community leaders in the town are severely critical of the damage caused in the riot, suggesting a rift between generations.

Representatives of the Pakistani community suggested that the authorities, including the police, had failed to serve the needs of their people, which resulted in the violence seen at the weekend.

Tough approach

The new Home Secretary's remarks on Sunday give a clue as to where his instincts lie: the cautious approach of the British police, he said, could mean that civil disobedience lasted longer than on the continent, where water-cannon and CS gas are used as a matter of routine.

By definition Mr Blunkett has to rely on the observations of others in order to make his judgements. And the Bradford MPs do seem to be united in their views.

Gerry Sutcliffe, the Labour member for Bradford South, speaking on the Today programme, was keen to promote tougher riot-control measures.

And Mr Sutcliffe's colleague, Marsha Singh, who represents Bradford West - took a similar line when he spoke on the World at One.

Lord Hattersley: The use of water-cannon is unacceptable

MPs, of course, are under huge pressure to respond to the immediate crisis facing their constituents: burnt out cars, wrecked buildings, injured police officers.

But will that pressure produce good policy? Do the problems of Bradford and Burnley and Oldham really boil down to hooliganism and other kinds of criminality?

Many believe the violence has causes which are much more deeply-rooted than the politicians suggest, and are equally keen to ensure that the response to riots is not superficial.

Lord Parekh, Professor politics at Hull University, chaired the commission which produced a report on the Future of Multi-ethnic Britain last year: it concluded that - even after years of race relations legislation - some British citizens remain more equal than others.

He accepts that the law and order issues have to be dealt with first, but insists that they must not be viewed in isolation.

He said a judicious balance should be struck between longterm factors - "the sense of alienation and powerlessness, feelings of invisibility and economic injustice."

"But while not to forget that hooligans cannot be allowed to have their own way".

'Alienation and deprivation'

Roy, now Lord, Hattersley is a former Labour shadow home secretary who represented the constituency of Birmingham Sparkbrook which also has a large ethnic minority population.

"David Blunkett is right to say there are some hooligans involved," he said.

We have to convince young Asian men that they are full members of society

Lord Hattersley

But he insisted that the main focus should be on the causes of crime - in this case "clearly alienation and deprivation".

"In some areas there are conditions that breed this kind of behaviour."

The use of water-cannon would be "absolutely disastrous" he said, because it would only confirm the sense that the Muslim men were "neglected and ignored".

"We have to convince young Asian men that they are full members of society with all the risks - and the rights - that that involves," he added.