Cameron chairs emergency committee as UK riots spread

British Prime Minister David Cameron chaired an emergency meeting in London Tuesday after cutting short his holiday because of riots spreading across the United Kingdom. Violence, arson and looting took place for the third night in London and broke out in at least four other cities.

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As riots spread to Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds and Birmingham, Cameron boarded a military flight at 3am, breaking off his holiday in the Italian region of Tuscany. He was to chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee.

The Netherlands-England friendly football match scheduled for Wednesday at Wembley has been cancelled.

Although 1,700 extra officers had been draughted in to the capital, police were overwhelmed as the violence also hit new areas of London.

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More than 400 people were arrested in London, including three for attempted murder after a car hit two police officers, one of whom was hospitalised. They were among a group trying to stop cars whose occupants were suspected of looting an electrical store.

West Midlands police confirmed 87 arrests in Birmingham.

Home Secretary Theresa May declared that the violence could be tackled with “robust policing” and there have been calls for the use of water-cannon or the deployment of the army.

The riots erupted in Tottenham at the weekend after police shot dead a man during a crackdown on gun crime in the black community.