British MPs to probe police riot tactics

British MPs have asked the country's most senior police officer for more details about how anti-riot tactics were developed amid an ongoing spat between the police and the Government, it was announced Monday. The exact timing of the decision to almost treble the number of officers on the violence-hit streets of the capital is among questions being put to Scotland Yard chief Tim Godwin. Members of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee are due to meet the Metropolitan Police Acting Commissioner privately tomorrow as they begin a detailed inquiry, the MPS said. Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers who has joined Godwin in public criticism of ministers, is also due to be present at Scotland Yard to give evidence. Questions put to both men in an advance letter include several seeking to clarify what was decided at a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra last Tuesday. The top-level gathering was chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron who had flown back from holiday in Italy and who afterwards announced the surge of police numbers. His subsequent criticism of the initial police tactics has led both officers to speak out publicly, Godwin complaining of confused messages from Parliament and hurtful attacks. Sir Hugh has gone further, branding politicians an "irrelevance" in how the riots were policed. Home Secretary Theresa May retorted by saying it was her job to tell the police what the public wanted them to do - which at that point was to go in harder and in greater numbers. In the letter to Godwin, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, Keith Vaz, asked him to say who made the surge decision and whether it was taken "before or after the Cobra meeting". Details were also sought about the costs to the force, contact with the Home Office about reimbursing them and whether any further resources and powers would have made the job easier. Mrs May and Godwin, with London Mayor Boris Johnson, will be among the first witnesses called to give public evidence to the committee when it convenes on September 6. In the weeks before, committee members plan to visit affected areas to hear from MPs, local people and businessmen about their experiences. Vaz said "It is essential that we begin the inquiry process immediately. Although there are common themes to the disorders there are also specific questions as to what happened in each city. "By the time the oral sessions begin the Committee hopes to be in possession of valuable information that will be of great interest to Parliament and the public."