Yvette Cooper says respect for police must be restored after riots [Video]

Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said respect for the police must be restored after they faced “brazen abuse and contempt” during rioting.

Attacks on local communities and police are a “disgraceful assault on the rule of law itself,” she said.

“As home secretary, I am not prepared to tolerate the brazen abuse and contempt which a minority have felt able to show towards our men and women in uniform, or the disrespect for law and order that has been allowed to grow in recent years,” Ms Cooper wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “As well as punishing those responsible for the last fortnight’s violent disorder, we must take action to restore respect for the police and respect for the law.”