Labour

If Cameron doesn't set up a proper inquiry into the riots I will - Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party, met today with local residents in Brixton’s Karibu Education Centre.

Ed Miliband said:

“All of us have been appalled and shocked by the events we have seen not just here in Brixton but across cities, in London and outside London. The most important thing is that this isn’t just seven days in August which shook our country but we properly learn the lessons. That must mean not just the media and politicians descending for a few days while these events are fresh in people’s minds, but a proper national conversation about these questions.

“There are issues about responsibility in our society. Parental responsibility is crucial. The responsibility also of those at the top of our society, and the message they send to our young people. If we are going to change the culture and have a culture of responsibility in our country it’s got to start with the most powerful, as well as talking about how people without power should behave.

“We must show people that they have a stake in our society and we must address the parallel lives that people lead today, the fact that we are an uneven society.

“I strongly urge the Prime Minister to without delay set up that commission of inquiry that we need. It has got to go through all our major cities, the major cities that were affected and the major cities that weren’t.

“If David Cameron doesn’t set up that national conversation, I am going to do it myself because we cannot allow a situation to develop whereby there is a focus for a few days on these issues and then we go back to business as usual. It is our duty as politicians, my duty as Leader of the Opposition, to make that happen. That is what I am committed to doing. Today we start the process of listening to you.”