LONDON (AP) — A wave of violence and looting raged across London and spread to three other major British cities on Tuesday, as authorities struggled to contain the country's worst unrest since race riots set the capital ablaze in the 1980s.
In London, groups of young people rampaged for a third straight night, setting buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps alight, looting stores and pelting police officers with bottles and fireworks. The spreading disorder was an unwelcome view of London's volatility for leaders organizing the 2012 Summer Olympics in less than a year.
Police called in hundreds of reinforcements — and made a rare decision to deploy armored vehicles in some of the worst-hit districts — but still struggled to keep pace with the chaos unfolding at flashpoints across London, in the central city of Birmingham, the western city of Bristol and the northwestern city of Liverpool.
The riots appeared to have little unifying cause — though some involved in the violence claimed to oppose sharp government spending cuts, which will slash welfare payments and cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs through 2015.
Others appeared attracted simply by the opportunity for violence. "Come join the fun," shouted one youth, racing along a street in the east London suburb of Hackney, where shops were attacked and cars torched.
Prime Minister David Cameron reversed an earlier decision and cut short his summer vacation in Italy, heading home for a meeting of the national crisis committee on Tuesday morning.
The crisis will be a major test of Cameron's coalition government, which includes members who had long suspected its program of tough budget restraints could provoke popular dissent.
Cameron was expected to seek to toughen the response in meetings with ministers and police chiefs on Tuesday. Some communities complain that stretched police were simply unable to reach some of the fast-spreading unrest.
Rioters were left virtually unchallenged in several neighborhoods and able to plunder from stores at will or attempt to invade homes. Restaurants and stores closed early across London, fearful of looting.
In London, groups of young people rampaged for a third straight night, setting buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps alight, looting stores and pelting police officers with bottles and fireworks. The spreading disorder was an unwelcome view of London's volatility for leaders organizing the 2012 Summer Olympics in less than a year.
Police called in hundreds of reinforcements — and made a rare decision to deploy armored vehicles in some of the worst-hit districts — but still struggled to keep pace with the chaos unfolding at flashpoints across London, in the central city of Birmingham, the western city of Bristol and the northwestern city of Liverpool.
The riots appeared to have little unifying cause — though some involved in the violence claimed to oppose sharp government spending cuts, which will slash welfare payments and cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs through 2015.
Others appeared attracted simply by the opportunity for violence. "Come join the fun," shouted one youth, racing along a street in the east London suburb of Hackney, where shops were attacked and cars torched.
Prime Minister David Cameron reversed an earlier decision and cut short his summer vacation in Italy, heading home for a meeting of the national crisis committee on Tuesday morning.
The crisis will be a major test of Cameron's coalition government, which includes members who had long suspected its program of tough budget restraints could provoke popular dissent.
Cameron was expected to seek to toughen the response in meetings with ministers and police chiefs on Tuesday. Some communities complain that stretched police were simply unable to reach some of the fast-spreading unrest.
Rioters were left virtually unchallenged in several neighborhoods and able to plunder from stores at will or attempt to invade homes. Restaurants and stores closed early across London, fearful of looting.
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