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What happened when two trained police officers responded to a complaint about teenagers playing football in the street on the night of Friday 9 June? Why did the police take so long to give police bail to those arrested on the Friday night and charged with minor public order offences? We note that the chief constable of west Yorkshire has said that a decision on whether the charges are to be withdrawn will be taken by this Friday. We would all be grateful if the Minister could say whether that decision has yet been taken. We need to ask whether it is in the best interests of the public or the police for police officers in riot gear, or defensive uniform as I understand the police prefer to call it, not to show clearly their police numbers? It is surely important, especially when allegations are being made, that police numbers are clearly visible and identifiable. We need to ask also whether the training that is given to police officers in West Yorkshire for dealing with complaints over football being played in the street, and in broader terms in policing a multiracial and multifaith community, is adequate.How successful has the West Yorkshire police been in recruiting ethnic minority community officers, both men and women? How successful has it been in recruiting men and women as special constables? We need to ask whether the community relations budget of the West Yorkshire police is to be cut, and whether community relations officers who leave the force, either for retirement or other reasons, are to be replaced.
We need to ask also if the organisation of the police in Manningham is in need of urgent review. I understand that my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, North (Mr. Rooney) will be dealing with that matter when he speaks. Do the police community forums, which have operated in the area for a considerable time, need to become more representative? We need to ask how they can relate more effectively to local communities. We need the inquiry- -I have referred to this before--to take up the real social problems that are caused by prostitution and to recommend whether further consideration should be given to the current law on prostitution.
Lastly, we need to ask about the brief given to the architect for the building of the expensive new police station in the Toller division. If the brief was to build a fortress or castle to give out the wrong signals--to suggest that there is an army that is sent out from behind high walls to quell local trouble--the architect succeeded. The police station, by its design, gives out entirely the wrong signals to the local community.
There can be no excuse in a democracy for any citizen to resort to violence to be heard. In a mature and confident democracy, leaders should respond sensibly to charges that sections of any community do not feel part of that democracy.
I am extremely disappointed that on Monday the Home Secretary refused a request from an all-party group of Bradford Members of Parliament for an independent public inquiry to be established. I regret that he did not have the confidence or the vision to agree to a short, sharp inquiry to find out why the Bradford tragedy occurred and what needs to be done by all of us to try to prevent similar tragedies from happening either in Bradford or anywhere else in our country.
The Home Secretary told me that there were no precedents for the sort of inquiry that I was suggesting. Perhaps that is the most compelling argument for a
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suitable mechanism and format to be devised. I hope even now that he will reconsider our request for an independent public inquiry. Such an inquiry could be a forum for the whole community to voice their hopes and fears, their ideas and their grievances. It would be a vital part of the healing process. It could make recommendations for action by central and local government and a whole range of local public agencies.As it is, there are now calls for a local, community-led inquiry. If such an inquiry is to succeed, it must enjoy the total confidence of the whole community. It must be led by people who are widely respected by that community and, not least, it must be properly funded so that it can be professionally administered and conducted. Whatever happens in relation to that matter, the Minister and the Government cannot shirk the charge that, in Bradford and elsewhere, there is a burgeoning sub-culture of people of all ages, all colours, all nationalities, all religions and no religion who feel angry, powerless and exploited, in all cases excluded and in some cases even unwelcome aliens. That alienation is reinforced by immigration laws that separate families and that even make visits from relatives and friends of people who have lived in this country for 20 and 30 years difficult. That is deeply resented.
I urge the Minister, the Home Secretary and the Government to think carefully before they embark on further legislation dealing with immigration or asylum. We all know of media speculation that such a Bill is likely to be introduced in the new Session. I counsel caution on the Government before they adopt such a course as we know that the most unlikely spark can erupt into serious violence and public disorder. In Bradford it was complaints about teenagers playing football in a side street; that was the spark that led to the catalogue of violence and criminal damage to which I have referred. How to include and embrace all our citizens with clear rights and clear responsibilities is the greatest political challenge facing all political parties not only in this country, but throughout the world. That is the biggest political challenge facing all of us into the next century.
I end with some perceptive words that were written in The Guardian on 17 June by Tariq Modood, a senior fellow at the Policy Studies Institute in London. He said:
"Manningham is a situation that Lord Scarman warned against. An expanding and underqualified youth population, a declining labour market, racial discrimination and harassment, drug dealing, conflict with the police. With one important difference. On one side, racism and cultural contempt is mixed with Islamophobia; on the other side, an assertiveness, paralleling forms of black pride, that might be called `Muslim pride'. An assertiveness that may at times owe as little to religion as political blackness does to the idea of Africa. `Muslim' solidarity is often criticised, if not in straightforwardly Islamophobic terms, as divisive. But all forms of solidarity involve an `us' and `them'. What divides is hardly to be welcomed, but denigrated and powerless groups need to find a focus of pride and political cohesion."
Those words are particularly profound and extremely relevant to the tragic events that took place in our city a few days ago. I hope that they will be addressed seriously and urgently by the Government. I sincerely believe that an independent public inquiry, lasting not two years, but six to nine months, could do an extremely good service to all of us. The voices need to be heard, not only in this place, but throughout our country. I hope that, having
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heard the voices that will be aired here today, the Government will respond sensibly and sensitively to the voices that need to and must be heard.11.55 am
Mr. Gary Waller (Keighley): I am delighted that the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) has secured this debate, which is extremely timely. I agreed with a great deal of what he said. Tribute should be paid to him for the way in which he helped to calm the position in the past fortnight. It is to his credit that he has not exerted too proprietorial an approach to those who have taken an interest in what has happened in the Manningham area. All hon. Members representing the Bradford district have a vital stake in the city.
There is an overwhelming need to look forward and to seek to find how can we can make Bradford a better place. If there is a need to consider the events of the past few days, we should look back to learn lessons for the future. There is a great danger that people who consider what has been happening in Bradford after watching their televisions or reading their newspapers may find that their prejudices and stereotypes are reinforced. It is important to remember that nothing like this has happened in Bradford before. Nothing like it happened when the National Front was driven out of the Lumb lane area in the late 1970s, at the time of the Honeyford affair or when people saw the vivid images on television and in the press of the burning of "The Satanic Verses" at the beginning of the decade.
It is a complex position. One of those who has analysed it well is Philip Lewis, adviser to the Bishop of Bradford on inter-faith issues. A warning should be given to those who want to make absolutist statements about the reasons for what happened in Bradford: the position is complicated and there were many reasons for what occurred. That will help us in the way that we look forward to the future.
What happened? Why did it happen? What do we do in the immediate aftermath? Above all, how do we ensure that these events do not recur? I am pleased that the Police Complaints Authority is to conduct an urgent inquiry and no one should prejudge its conclusions. I have confidence in John Cartwright, who will preside over it, and I look forward to a speedy and authoritative report.
I have my doubts, and have always had doubts, about a statutory public inquiry, although I have listened carefully to those who have argued for it. There is a real danger that a public inquiry, inevitably lasting for many months, would expose the bad things about Bradford to national and international coverage and that more harm than good could result.
There is also a danger that the establishment of such an inquiry could convey the wrong messages--the message, for instance, that the way in which to attract attention to an area's problems is to start a riot. Not only would a dangerous message be conveyed to other ethnic-minority communities, but there would be the danger of a backlash, especially in other deprived areas where there has hitherto been no intention to riot but where the problems may be every bit as great as those in Manningham.
Bradford is, of course, a very different community from Brixton, which featured in the Scarman inquiry, and that should be taken into account in any analysis. I hope that such an analysis will be carried out, and that a forum will be established in Bradford to enable people to discuss the problems and their possible solutions.
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As the hon. Member for Bradford, West explained, the catalyst that sparked the riot was--as in so many cases-- what most would consider a relatively petty event. Like the hon. Gentleman, I hope that everyone will concur with the view expressed by Ruth Billheimer, chair of West Yorkshire police complaints committee and a local councillor, who said that"any unacceptable behaviour by the police does not excuse the violence that took place . . . There is no excuse for any section of the community to take the law into their own hands."
That view was echoed by Norman Bettison, the assistant chief constable, who said that
"no incident can be a justification for the petrol bombing, wanton damage, looting and robbery which took place throughout Bradford." The chief constable, for whom I have the same regard as the hon. Member for Bradford, West, said that the speed with which the riot broke out was surprising. From what I have been able to ascertain, there can be little doubt that the events of the Saturday night involved agitators from outside, who tried to encourage others to go on a wrecking spree; at the end of the day, however, we must condemn violence against people and property.
When I told someone who is closely involved with race relations in the area that I was not very happy with the statement that had been made, he said that the lack of condemnation of the riots must be seen as a compromise. We cannot compromise when it comes to petrol bombs and bricks thrown through car windows; if we did, there would be complaints about dual standards.
This was not a race riot in the strict sense, but the fact remains that hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage was done to businesses--mainly white businesses--along the route into the centre of Bradford. If the situation had been reversed, everyone--including the Commission for Racial Equality--would have condemned it utterly. The overwhelming majority of Asians also condemn such action; a tiny minority was responsible, including people whose attitudes are just as racist as those of members of the British National party. If we are two-faced, the latter could be the beneficiaries. If we do not express unequivocal condemnation, those with an interest in an outbreak of greater disharmony will benefit; but condemnation is not enough.
The national media, in particular, have focused on the possible link between the violence and the recent vigilante action in Lumb lane. Some of those involved in the vigilante action may have been present during the riot, but I do not think that it was a major factor.
The number of complaints about police officers in the Toller lane division is the lowest in the force. I understand that there have been 13 this year, none with racial overtones. I believe that the police are doing a great deal of hard work to rebuild links with the community; there are many bridges to be rebuilt after the events of the weekend before last.
According to West Yorkshire Police Federation secretary, Richard Critchley, the
"underlying problems are not policing problems".
I consider his analysis too simplistic. The police are human beings, subject to the faults and weaknesses that affect other human beings, and I know from constituency experience that in some instances they have acted insensitively. They must aim for the highest standards. Overall, however, the police in the Bradford area and west Yorkshire generally--and, indeed, throughout the
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country--compare favourably with any force in the world in the way in which they deal with the public, including minorities. We should also bear in mind that, like people in other areas, many Asians want more community officers on the beat. How many times have we heard people express that wish?We should not underestimate the valuable influence of those who, in the immediate aftermath of the violence, played their part in successfully appealing to the public to remain calm and peaceful: we owe them a great debt. That approach united the majority among all races, male and female, old and young. Several people played a particularly valuable role in ensuring that the situation was brought under control. I pay tribute to the Bishop of Bradford, who spoke to young people on Sunday and played an enormously valuable part in bringing people together, not only in the immediate aftermath but in subsequently talking to people and trying to understand. His combination of good humour, pragmatism and firmness when it is needed has been extremely valuable.
On Monday 12 June, just after the events that have been described, the Daily Express published the headline "City Waiting to Explode". I do not think that that was necessarily right; it seemed to suggest that the problems had been caused by basic faults in the people of Bradford or the system there, and that they could easily become considerably worse in the future. Many people say that it will take as long as 20 years to repair the damage that has been done to the community; that, too, need not necessarily be true, but much depends on the way in which we all act now.
Young people in the Manningham area have problems that we must understand, but they too must understand that white people--and, indeed, Asians in other areas--have much in common with them. They should not think that their problems are unique. The problem of having nowhere to go and nothing to do affects many people, not only in Manningham but in Keighley and even Ilkley, which may surprise some. Young people in those areas also want to be listened to, and to receive a positive response.
It has been suggested that part of the problem has been caused by differences between the generations in the Asian community. The issue is sensitive; perhaps it would be more correct to say that many of those young people have values that are similar to those of their parents but their attitudes are different, in that they are more likely to act defiantly to defend those values. They are members of a generation largely born in this country, and they are not prepared to put up with the setbacks that their parents, as immigrants, may have been prepared to endure. As Bradfordians, they often feel that they are being ignored.
Those whose interest is not in harmony have much to gain. We have seen the growth of gangs in the area. It has been easy to play on the fears of those who feel that they are dealing with a society that is hostile to them. There are groups who want to play on the divisions to suit their own agendas. As I have suggested, if a right-wing backlash were provoked, it would benefit only the cause of such groups and reinforce the arguments that they have used in the past. As the hon. Member for Bradford, West said in quoting a young person from the area, very few of the people are naturally violent but many more perhaps get a buzz from being involved. There is no doubt that many people on the periphery joined in because they were bored. That was perhaps more a factor than anything to do with religion.
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There are problems to deal with. It is going to be harder to attract businesses into the area. Among the many important things that we need in the area are more businesses. We need to rebuild the image of Bradford. Restaurants' trade has certainly been drastically affected and that needs to be addressed.However, there are encouraging aspects. Many young people in the area have a very positive approach. We regret what happened, but some good may emerge. There has been a need to talk about the problems, and the events of the past fortnight may encourage that process. Another encouraging development has been the spontaneous multi-racial demonstration for peace by women in Manningham. The grievances to which they have drawn attention need to be heard. We need to talk about them.
Our overall message should be that while we must condemn, in this instance we must also understand a little more. We must ensure that young people have a stake in the community in which they live. It is up to us to enable them to feel that way and then we can ensure beyond peradventure that the kind of events that so appalled us during the past fortnight will not recur.
12.11 pm
Mr. Terry Rooney (Bradford, North): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on being lucky enough to secure this debate. I have no wish to try further to describe the events of that week, which have been brilliantly portrayed already, but I should like to expand the debate slightly. I also thank the Minister for being present and apologise in advance as I may not be able to stay to the end of his winding -up speech, having already had to delay a long-standing engagement.
The community in Manningham is dominated by Lister's mill, which is well known to Bradfordians and to anyone who has visited the city. It is a magnificent building architecturally and at its peak it employed 7,000 textile workers. Today it has less than 200. That is synonymous with, and representative of, the economic decline of the area. Over the years, there have been very welcome schemes--including the urban programme, task force, safer cities, housing action areas and housing improvement areas--which at the time were all welcome and very successful in pulling together agencies and partnerships. All, however, were time-limited, and each time schemes have ended a feeling of despair has been left behind, with people wondering how to sustain those developments.
Recently a long-running campaign to try to maintain section 11 funding for Bradford has been partly but not wholly successful, once again leaving the feeling that a community was not being fully recognised or regarded as part of the equation.
For eight years from 1983 I was a councillor for a ward which partly covered Manningham. That was a real privilege and an experience. During that time I formed lifelong friendships with people from the many different communities. The area has a long history of settlement of people from abroad. In the mid-19th century there was large-scale Irish settlement. It is interesting that in the 1860s it took three attempts to build what is nowSt. Patrick's Catholic church--the first Catholic church in
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Bradford--because the Protestant-dominated population kept burning it down. They did not want to have their faith so disturbed. Perhaps, in some ways, nothing is new.In the late 19th century, east European Jewish settlements were established. After the second world war many people came to settle from eastern Europe: Poles, Ukrainians, Estonians and Latvians. There is a long and cosmopolitan history people living and working together, trying to form new communities.
Last week, we had what I thought was a well-mannered and constructive debate on the boundary commission report. One might ask what relevance that has to this debate. Until the 1980 boundary revision, the community of Manningham had been in one constituency and represented on the council as a single ward. Since 1980, the community has covered four electoral wards in two parliamentary constituencies with 12 councillors. That in itself makes representation somewhat difficult.
Manningham is covered by three separate police divisions, which means nine different shifts of police officers per day. That leads to tensions, confusion and disagreements. The three divisions have three excellent community affairs police inspectors. However, one is on the point of early retirement; one, as a cost-saving measure, has had community affairs duties taken away from him; and the other is retiring at the end of the year. As I understand it, by early next year those community affairs inspector posts will have disappeared. Between them, those three people have amassed something like 20 years experience of dealing with the community, being aware of what is going on and gaining the respect and confidence of the community. Especially in the light of recent events, we cannot afford to sacrifice such experience, commitment and ability to communicate. Institutions, not only in Bradford but throughout Britain, should reflect and represent communities. We should not create artificial divisions that no one needs. There is a need for a rapid healing process. We must reinforce the faith of the majority in the community while not trying to silence the minority who have genuine, valid grievances. We need to hear and respond to them. That is a duty on hon. Members as representatives of the community and on those with responsibility for policy and planning future programmes. I echo the caveat entered my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West about any further diminution of rights under the immigration laws. Week after week, I am contacted by people whose relatives have been refused visitors' visas to come for weddings and similar family events. They now have no right of appeal, although some of those cases are heartbreaking. That, too, diminishes people's confidence in the their place in British society.
I know that other hon. Members wish to speak, so I will end there. I hope that the Minister will take those points on board.
12.18 pm
Mr. Michael Stephen (Shoreham): I congratulate the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on securing the debate. It would be difficult to find two constituencies more different from each other than his inner city constituency in the north of England and mine, which lies between the south downs and the sea on the south coast. However, ours is a United Kingdom and serious issues which concern him and his constituents also concern me and mine.
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The events of 16 to 18 June in Bradford have shocked us all. The message must go out from the House loud and clear that all our citizens are expected to obey the law. What we saw in Bradford was a rampage in which opportunities were taken to engage in criminal activity of the most vile and despicable kind. The hon. Member for Bradford, West rightly condemned that. Some people might suggest, although the hon. Gentleman did not, that poverty is an excuse for such behaviour, but many of the people engaged in that criminal activity were not poor or unemployed, while many of those whose hard-earned property was smashed, destroyed or stolen were among the poorest in the community. Members of Parliament must keep faith with the poorest in our community by making it clear that criminal attacks on them will never be tolerated.It is suggested that some sections of our society are frustrated. All of us, including Ministers, must listen to all legitimate points of view but there are two sides--at least--to every issue. Those who find themselves on the losing side will, I suspect, always feel dissatisfied and frustrated, but that is no excuse for criminal behaviour. We do not want to live in a society in which those who shout the loudest get what they want while those who go peacefully about their business are ignored.
There are perhaps fewer reasons than ever before for anyone in this country to feel alienated. All adults have the vote. We are not living in the days of the Tolpuddle martyrs or the suffragettes, and almost everyone with a legitimate point of view has access to the media and can communicate their views to millions of fellow citizens. Members of Parliament and councillors are more accessible than ever before, and we are all extremely hard-working representatives of our constituents. That applies as much to Opposition Members as to Conservatives. Many of us start work for our constituents at 7 am and do not stop until midnight. We represent all points of view and I greatly respect those expressed by Opposition Members on behalf of their constituents, although I do not often agree with them. Ministers, too, are more accessible than ever before but they cannot always do what we want, perhaps because there is not enough money available or for some other perfectly valid reason.
We must, of course, manage the economy in such a way that our people have the highest possible standard of living and the greatest opportunity to lead fulfilling lives, but I do not suppose that we shall ever reach the stage when all our people are 100 per cent. satisfied. The relentless advance of technology means that we often have to make painful adjustments in our local economies, and Bradford is no exception.
One thing about young men which must be understood--most of those participating in the criminal activity in Bradford were men--is their need for adventure. They are boisterous and energetic and need some way to release their energy. I felt the same at their age and volunteered to join the Army, in which I served for five years. I got the adventurous spirit out of my system and am now able to enjoy life as a rather sedentary Member of Parliament. Ways must be found for today's young people--especially young men--to get that adventurous spirit out of their systems. They cannot be expected to leave school, go straight into a sedate nine-to-five job and behave themselves all the time.
Another problem that we witnessed in Bradford was the cultural breakdown. For generations, the Asian communities in our country had a strong cultural defence
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mechanism against criminal and other forms of anti-social behaviour, but I fear that that mechanism is beginning to break down. One of the reasons is television, about which I wish to make a few comments.On television, young members of the Asian community--indeed, young members of all communities--see western culture of the worst possible kind. They see sexual irresponsibility, disrespect for parents and all forms of authority, violence and bad language. Expectations are raised by television to such a degree that no Government have any possibility of living up to them. As Members of Parliament, we have a duty not to raise expectations beyond the level that Governments can reasonably be expected to fulfil. Television is a powerful instrument for moulding ideas and shaping attitudes. In the wrong hands, however--and I fear that it may be in the wrong hands--it could destroy our society.
12.24 pm
Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe (Bradford, South): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on the excellent way in which he explained to the House the problems in his constituency. Due to the shortage of time, I shall not be able to go into as much detail as I would wish about the problems in Bradford. In any event, we have to hear what the Government have to say and what action they propose. My only sadness about today's debate is that we are discussing a tragic event in the life of a great city. As has been said, whatever the provocation, there is no and can never be any justification for violence against people or damage to property. During the weekend in question, it was not only property that was damaged but the hearts and minds of Bradford people who were shocked and upset at what happened to our community. Let us make no mistake--Bradford suffered and will continue to suffer until we find solutions to the core problems.
We are witnessing the economics of exclusion. The recent Rowntree report made it clear that, between 1979 and 1992, the poorest 30 per cent. of the country failed to benefit from economic growth. A third of Bradford's population relies on some form of state benefit. I have lived and worked in Bradford all my life, I was educated at Bradford schools, my first job was in the city centre and my partner and I brought up our children there, so it was with genuine pain and sorrow that I became aware of what was happening in Bradford that weekend. There are many conflicting versions of the events that sparked the fury, and I am especially disappointed that the Home Secretary does not agree that an independent inquiry was appropriate. In my view, it would have helped to clear up the myth and the fictions that abound in the area at the moment.
Like my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, North (Mr. Rooney), I was a councillor for 12 years; I also had the privilege to lead the city council. I am proud of Bradford and its achievements, despite the darker moments when the actions of a few minimise the value of the contribution of the majority. There are many tales about the horrific incidents of that weekend but two particular cases were brought home to me strongly. One involved an elderly white woman who had been resident in the area for a long time. Her windows were broken and she was threatened with being forced out of her home. The second involved a young Asian youth who was
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frightened to go to work the following week because he feared the reaction of his work mates. Racism on either side is not acceptable. Acts of criminal damage and wanton destruction have to be punished, and it is to the credit of the law-abiding people of Bradford that they want to see those responsible caught by the police. It is also to the credit of Bradford people that they recognise that there are underlying problems which need to be tackled. The police were the focus of all that was apparently wrong: there was a notion that the establishment, or society, was not performing according to the aspirations of the disfranchised.Disfranchised youngsters have no faith in today's Britain. It offers a vision of materialism and wealth, but the reality for many Bradford youngsters, especially among the Asian community, is one of unemployment and poverty. Sadly, the disfranchised group is not confined to the Asian youth of Manningham but includes the rest of Bradford youth and, indeed, Britain's youth.
To disinterested observers, Bradford's problems relate to the breakdown of relationships between the elders of the Asian community and the young people. The Asian community is described in general terms, but that is far from the truth: the Asian community in Bradford is as complex as any other, with geographical, religious and cultural diversities, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus. It is wrong to generalise and it is important that we do not do so. It is true that there some differences between the generations, but the same is also true of the wider community.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, North said, Bradford has a proud tradition of welcoming people from all over the world, mainly due to the fact that it was the woollen capital of the world. We therefore enjoy a diversity of communities and have benefited from that fact.
In 1984, the city council published a document entitled "District Trends" which predicted worrying trends of poverty and unemployment. At the time, we were criticised for scaremongering and talking Bradford down, but those predictions are coming true. The Government have responsibilities to Bradford. They cannot take £40 million from the council's budget, as has happened in the past few years, and expect there to be no effect. Discipline in schools is already a problem, and there are fewer classroom assistants and less resources for special needs. It has to be remembered that many of the people involved were children--still learning at school.
The Government have straitjacketed council expenditure so that 85 per cent. of the council spend is predetermined, making it unable to respond to the many needs of the community. There is frustration when a council spends money in one area but not in another which seems more of a priority. The reason is usually because the council is not able to transfer money from pot to pot. When the Government launched the single regeneration budget, Bradford lost its urban programme: £4 million a year, which was spent across the district, was gone at a stroke.
We have pockets of unemployment of more than 50 per cent. in areas such as Manningham and on our council estates; yet the budget for training and enterprise councils has been cut by £2 million this year. Bradford has lost its assisted area status, which means that private companies have lost the opportunity to make millions of pounds. The health authority, too, has had its budget cut. Such cuts
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cannot and must not continue. So far this year, the police in west Yorkshire have had to deal with more than 23 murders, compared with 17 last year; yet they have not been given any extra resources or manpower. How can they build the stronger community relations that have been called for when they suffer such restraints?Resources are not the only answer. There needs to be a cultural change in the attitudes and policies towards the problems of young people, so that they do not turn to the extreme right or left. Attitudes need to change in policies on inner cities and long-term employment. Politicians, both locally and nationally, must make politics relevant and meaningful to the lives of ordinary people from all sectors of the British community.
A catalogue of events in Bradford has contributed to the problems that we face. We need effective local government and we need the community to work together, as it does on many occasions in Bradford. Above all, the Government must recognise that what happened in Bradford could happen everywhere in the country if people do not feel their worth in society. I shall stop at this point, but I hope that the Minister will promise that the Government will take some strong action in areas such as ours in Bradford.
12.31 pm
Mr. Simon Hughes (Southwark and Bermondsey): I shall be extremely brief. I am not a Bradfordian, although I have visited the city fairly often in the past few weeks--indeed, just before the events of a fortnight ago. I want to make two points in support of the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden). I pay tribute to him and his colleagues who speak for the city and the surrounding area. First, it is not surprising that such events happen, as the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Sutcliffe) said. This year it was Bradford; in previous years it has been Oxford, Brixton, Toxteth or wherever. Such events are not an indictment of the city, place or people. Groups of young people, especially young men, can turn very quickly from being positive and constructive to being angry and aggressive. It can happen to any group and may be triggered by almost nothing. That situation is not helped when such people feel, whatever their racial background, that their prospects, stake and opportunities are being disregarded by those in authority--not by those in authority locally.
I have been on deputations with the hon. Member for Bradford, West and others to argue for more money for section 11 funding for the city of Bradford. Its youth service funding has been cut by a third in three years, the education budget has been cut, its local authority is not allowed to decide how much it needs to spend, and urban funding in Bradford, as elsewhere, has been cut. Unless the Government understand such things and unless they listen to the voices of the locals, who are the experts, they will continue to face crises in urban Britain. Such crises will occur because urban Britain does not get its share of the cake or the opportunities. When unemployment rises by a third in six years, the chances of success are minimal.
The people of Bradford are doing all that they can. The faith communities, the faith leaders and the women of the city are doing their part; they are doing the work and working together. They want to know that they are being listened to from outside. The young people are saying, if
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they are saying anything to the Government and the people in power, "Listen to us. We will have a great future if you help us to achieve it." If the Government disregard that future, people are saying that such events might occur--not because they want them to, but because it is built up and brought about by the components of social policy. If the Government listen to young people, young people will give them the answers.12.33 pm
Dr. Kim Howells (Pontypridd): I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on his good fortune and determination in securing a debate on this very important subject. Over many years, he has been a great crusader for the cause of racial harmony and a great opponent of those who, no matter from which quarter they come, advocate or practise racial discrimination and harassment.
In his speech, my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West reminded us that the cocktail of grievances and the sets of circumstances which led a fortnight ago to the disturbances in Bradford are by no means unique to that city. There have been previous examples of public disorder in Asian communities, most notably of course in Burnley, Blackburn and Southall. The problems that my hon. Friend described are found all too frequently in many inner-city areas. If there is something especially worrying about the Bradford disturbances, it is the fact that they occurred despite the strong sense of community and the existence of strong community institutions which the Asian population of that city have developed. It should be remembered, for example, that three of the four local councillors who went to the police on the weekend of the troubles to negotiate a truce--if the House will excuse my shorthand--were Asian. As a number of commentators have pointed out, Bradford's circumstances were somewhat different in that respect from those which Lord Scarman identified as having contributed to the Brixton riots in 1981.
There are similarities in other respects, however, and, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West has pointed out, they require special attention. Both riots started--it seems--after minor disturbances involving the police. The early course of events involved protests against the police, but then widened to include looting, burning, and so on. The riots were not what used to be called race riots. In the aftermath, both have been the subject of much commentary about their importance, as we have heard today, to feelings of alienation, discrimination and social disadvantage. Bradford does not have a unique cocktail of circumstances, but the citizens who live in and around Manningham most certainly suffer some acute and specific problems, as we have heard this morning. Laws governing prostitution, for example, must be addressed urgently and properly. There seems little doubt that the relationship between the police and the Asian community was not helped by the friction which seems to have been generated by the activities of certain vigilante groups of Asian males, who took it upon themselves to persuade--by all kinds of means-- prostitutes to move way from Lumb lane and the respectable residential areas which are blighted by their presence. Reports have emerged of expressions of resentment among the west Yorkshire constabulary at the existence and nature of those groups. Other reports indicate that the
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police are frustrated that they cannot lay their hands on certain Asian pimps involved in controlling the prostitution in and around Lumb lane. The police argue that evidence against the Asian community's rotten apples is very difficult to obtain and that, in such circumstances, a tight community, which feels threatened and under siege, tightens rank still further.Similar reports have emerged about drug dealing. It is quite clear that the Government have a duty to make known their plans for tackling problems of interpretation and enforcement if any progress is to be made in the efforts to reduce the numbers of opportunities for incidents to occur and for friction to increase. The Police Complaints Authority inquiry may offer a vehicle for pursuing that question, although, as we have heard, my hon. Friends would rather have had an independent inquiry, with a much wider remit than that of the PCA.
Any inquiry which assumes that the causes of the Bradford riots are limited to the lack of training of certain police officers in their relationship with ethnic communities is bound to fail. There is no doubt that greater resources must be made available to ensure that police officers are better trained and better equipped to deal with fractious incidents. But resources should also be made available to allow us to understand how a proper application of the laws governing prostitution and drug dealing might also help to reduce the opportunities for friction.
I do not believe that a local inquiry--however
well-intentioned--conducted by the concerned people of Bradford is sufficient to deal with such problems. I hope that the Minister and the Home Secretary will reconsider their decision to refuse a properly resourced and independent inquiry.
There is no doubt that all respectable elements in Bradford have understood the seriousness of the events that occurred a fortnight ago. We have heard about the welcome efforts made on all sides--by the police and the Asian community as well as by the local authorities--to construct out of those events an atmosphere of trust and reconciliation. I am sure that everyone here wishes them all well in their endeavours, for there can be no excuse for violence and criminal damage such as that witnessed on the streets of Bradford two weeks ago.
My hon. Friends and other hon. Members have condemned that violence and the mentality that perpetrated it. There is no doubt in my mind that the sense of cynicism, alienation and frustration so vividly described by my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West will increasingly threaten race relations in this country. My hon. Friend described the dangers of applying any simplistic analysis to that difficult and complicated problem, but begin to analyse them we must, if we are to protect and improve what I believe are the best race relations of any European Union country.
In some quarters that assertion might be regarded as controversial, but I will say it again: race relations in this country generally are among the best in Europe. We must build on that record, and we must not endanger it in any way. That means that the specific issues and problems, including the policing problems highlighted by my hon. Friends, must be investigated and tackled. My hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West suggested that a mechanism should be constructed whereby we could quickly set up a short, sharp public inquiry capable of
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examining those specific questions and, more importantly, capable of making recommendations that would help in the immediate healing process.I shall deal briefly with one of the specific problems that has been much commented upon over the past two weeks--the alleged relationship between high unemployment and the incident in question and others like it in ethnic minority communities. I do not believe that there is a mechanistic or automatic link between high unemployment and a propensity to riot or to commit lawless acts. You, Mr. Deputy Speaker, have represented a mining community for many years--like mine, it is now an ex-mining community--and if there was a mechanistic or automatic link between high unemployment and a propensity to riot, the coalfield and dockyard communities would have been ablaze throughout the 1930s. But they were not.
However, it is foolish to think that the cynicism, alienation and frustration that we have heard about is entirely detached from the experience of high unemployment. Unemployment represents an important variable. Whether our constituencies contain ethnic minorities or not, we all know from our experience within them that there is a link. The police know that, too, and we must deal with it as a fact. If necessary we must get rid of the sociological hogwash that, often in the name of political correctness, prevented us from talking about the link between high unemployment and lawlessness--that tendency to do all kinds of anti-social things that so dragged down our communities. It is time that we addressed that problem, in the inner cities and elsewhere.
Unemployment is an important variable, perhaps as important as any other. Of all the ethnic minorities in this country the Pakistani and Bangladeshi populations are most vulnerable to high unemployment both cyclical and long term. That problem, like prostitution and drug dealing in the inner cities, must be addressed, perhaps by re-examining the application of single regeneration budgets and the way in which the bids for that scheme are drafted.
We must think seriously about strengthening the institutions of communities such as that in and around Manningham by empowering those communities and ensuring that the ordinary people within them have a voice in shaping their lives. If we do not address those issues all of us, whether we represent inner city constituencies or not, will regret it. Our police forces cannot continue to be, in the words of the assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire,
"the anvil on which these youths"--
Asian youths--
"are beating out their frustrations and anger".
Mob rule and collective bargaining by riot can have no place in a modern democracy. It is our duty to ensure that the mechanisms are in place to convince people that there are alternative means of making their voices heard.
12.44 pm
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