London riots and UK unrest: day four live coverage

• PM announces 16,000 police will be deployed London tonight • First fatality as man shot in Croydon, south London, dies • Firearms officers may use non-lethal plastic bullets • England friendly against Holland at Wembley cancelled • Twitter movement #riotcleanup gets under way • Send us your footage of the riots 2.51pm: A few updates from our reporters around London. Matthew Taylor, who’s in Croydon , says shops are closing on police advice and a steady stream of people is heading out of the area via the train station. Peter Beaumont, in the centre of Hackney , reports hundreds of police near the Empire and the Town Hall. He says he’s never seen so many officers in the area — nor so many wearing the uniforms of so many different forces from around the country. Ian Sample, meanwhile, sends this from Ealing , which is also in shutdown mode: Fire engines are gathered in Ealing in west London to secure a building burned out by fire last night. Roads in the centre are closed to traffic and police are patrolling the streets as concerns spread of more violence this afternoon. Earlier this afternoon, police ordered the Ealing shopping centre to shut, with hundreds of people being turned back into the streets. The centre is now shuttered until tomorrow morning. Opposite, the Arcadia shopping centre remains closed, its windows smashed and a traffic cone lodged in one panel of glass at the entrance. Workers in hard hats are sweeping up fallen tiles from the burned out building that was set on fire last night. Meanwhile, one of Liverpool ‘s biggest shopping centres has decided to close early as a precaution: Following recent events across the country, customers can expect stores at Liverpool One to close from 6pm today, rather than the usual closing time of 8pm, to allow staff to safely make their way home. The top priority at Liverpool One is always the safety of its staff and customers, and Liverpool One will be monitoring the situation closely in partnership with Merseyside police. 2.47pm: Harman says people in her Peckham constituency are saying that the young people out rioting and looting are not speaking for them. It is not a political demonstration, she says. “Nothing justifies somebody robbing an looting somebody else’s business and frightening people on their own streets.” She refuses to be drawn on deeper motives or causes for the rioting right now. The first thing to do is sort out the situation. People don’t want to hear “excuses”, she says. People are absolutely expecting that whatever measures need to be taken will be taken … They don’t want to have the fear that things are going to kick off in their neighbourhood. 2.45pm: Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader, is speaking now on BBC News. She says people’s No 1 concern is to feel safe. They do not want to have to close their businesses at three o’clock. 2.44pm: Boris Johnson says he does not want to hear social and economic justifications for the rioting. 2.43pm: Boris Johnson is speaking in Clapham Junction. His message to the rioters is: “They will face punishments they will bitterly regret.” The mayor of London is facing a lot of heckling. People are asking where the police were yesterday. 2.30pm: Good afternoon and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the unrest in London and the rest of Britain. The cleanup from last night’s trouble is well under way, and preparations are being made for tonight. It’s clear that the police, particularly in London, are preparing a far more robust response. Here’s a summary of events so far today. • The riots that have plagued London for three consecutive nights have claimed their first life. A man shot in his car during last night’s rioting in Croydon, south London, died after being admitted to hospital. He was discovered in a car suffering from gunshot wounds at about 9.15pm as trouble flared in the area. • David Cameron has announced that 16,000 police officers will be deployed in London tonight, in an effort to get a grip on the violence. This is up from 6,000 the night before. The prime minister promised a tough response to any trouble tonight: “I have this very clear message to those people who are responsible for this wrongdoing and criminality: you will feel the full force of the law. If you are old enough to commit these crimes you are old enough to face the punishments.” • Police have disclosed that live baton rounds – non-lethal plastic bullets – may be deployed tonight. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh of the Metropolitan police told our crime correspondent, Sandra Laville: “If we need to, we will do so.” He said 525 people have been arrested since rioting began on Saturday, and about 100 have been charged. • Rioting spread to other cities in Britain for the first time, with unrest in Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham. West Midlands police made 138 arrests. Chief Constable Chris Sims said of the looting in the city centre: “This was not an angry crowd, this was a greedy crowd.” • A clean-up operation has got under way across London, with many residents turning out to help. A number of websites and Facebook groups have been set up to co-ordinate the volunteer forces. UK riots London Sam Jones Matt Wells Paul Owen guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 9, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.