The police admitted they got their riot tactics wrong, the prime minister has said, as he announced measures to help homeowners and businesses.
David Cameron told MPs the riots in cities across England were “criminality pure and simple”, but there were “far too few police” on the streets.
He announced a crackdown on facemasks and a review of curfews during an emergency recall of Parliament.
More than 1,500 arrests have been made since the unrest began on Saturday.
The prime minister earlier chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee Cobra to discuss the violence with cabinet ministers.
Cameron told MPs that it had become clear there had been problems in the initial police response to the disorder.
Former Cabinet minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind also raised concerns that officers were instructed to “stand and observe looting”.
Cameron told MPs: “There were simply far too few police deployed on to our streets and the tactics they were using weren’t working.
“Police chiefs have been frank with me about why this happened.
“Initially the police treated the situation too much as a public order issue – rather than essentially one of crime. (BBC)
