§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis concerning the incidents of public disorder which took place in Brixton, London, on the day of Monday, 1 November; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitelawI understand from the Commissioner that at 5.30 am police officers assisted the under-sheriff of Greater London in the execution of a writ of possession in respect of nine properties in Railton Road, Brixton. This exercise was completed by 6.55 am without incident. There was a light police presence in the area throughout the morning. About 12.40 pm about 80 people gathered in Railton Road and decided to march to Lambeth town hall in protest at the evictions. The group moved off at 1.00 pm, calling first at Brixton police station, where they stayed for only a few minutes and where there were no incidents. The group then went to Lambeth town hall, accompanied by a small number of police officers, where they were refused entry to the building but were seen by the leader of the council. Mobile police units arrived and the crowd dispersed at 1.50 pm, most of them going to Railton Road.
The area was relatively quiet until about 3.00 pm when a number of youths entered a semi-derelict property in Mayall Road. It appears that the property had previously been used as a club and the youths were demanding that the local authority should reconnect the electricity supply. The youths eventually left the building and, whilst they remained in Railton Road and showed signs of hostility, none was violent. At about 5.30 pm bricks and three petrol bombs were thrown at police officers in Railton Road and additional units were brought in to disperse the crowd. A little later, two portacabins and some diesel fuel in a council yard in Railton Road were set alight.
30WDuring the evening a group of youths went into the Atlantic public house on the junction of Coldharbour Lane and Atlantic Road. They assaulted the licensee, who is a local councillor and a member of the community/police consultative group of Lambeth. He had supported the decision to possess the properties in Railton Road. Later in the evening people who have yet to be identified set fire to a derelict property in Mayall Road. The building was gutted. Nearby in Railton Road the windows of a second-hand furniture shop were broken and a mattress was set alight. The fire was quickly put out. At about 6.30 pm a barricade was erected across Railton Road and more bricks and petrol bombs were thrown at police officers. At the directions of the senior officer the barricade was cleared and the crowd were dispersed into the side roads. The major and last confrontation occurred at 7.45 pm when about 100 youths gathered at the junction of Atlantic Road and Coldharbour Lane. They were quickly dispersed by police officers.
At the end of the day a total of eight arrests had been made in connection with the disorder. One police officer was slightly injured, as were three members of the public, including a reporter, who was stabbed in the hand. A number of press cameramen were robbed. Apart from the fires, the only damage caused was to equipment of a television news team and slight damage to police vehicles.
I would also refer my hon. Friend to the assessment of the events, including the effectiveness of the police operations and the constructive and representative actions of leading figures in the community, including the Lambeth community/police consultative group, which I gave in the course of my speech in the debate on the Address on 5 November. [Vol. 31, c. 224.]