§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Berkshire concerning incidents of public disorder which occurred in Slough between 5 and 11 June 1983; what was the ethnic breakdown of the persons involved; and if he will make a statement concerning the substance of the report.
§ Mr. HurdWe have asked the chief constable of Thames Valley police, but on the information supplied he has been unable to identify the incidents to which my hon. Friend refers.
§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of West Yorkshire concerning incidents of public disorder which occurred in the Savile Town, Dewsbury area between 24 July and 31 July 1983, inclusive; what was the ethnic breakdown of the persons involved; and if he will make a statement concerning the substance of the report.
§ Mr. HurdI understand from the chief constable that on the nights of 23, 24 and 25 July fights took place in Savile Town, Dewsbury, between groups of Asian and white men as a result of drunken behaviour on the part of customers at a public house in the area. In the most serious of these fights one man received a fractured skull. Twenty arrests were made on those evenings for assaults on police, threatening behaviour and criminal damage. Ten of those arrested were white and 10 Asian. No injuries to police were recorded. On 30 July scuffles broke out when Asians marched to the centre of Dewsbury to draw attention to local grievances. Five arrests were made, but no one was seriously hurt. The chief constable informs me that these events were not typical of the area, and that there have been no later incidents of disorder there.