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Tom Brake Excerpts
Wednesday 26th October 2011

(13 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Tom Brake Portrait Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)
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Two thirds of young people involved in the riots had a special educational need. Does the Prime Minister agree that that underlines the need for complex solutions which tackle educational underachievement and rehabilitation as well as punishment?

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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Of course, as I have said many times at this Dispatch Box, we have to look behind the statistics and what happened and ask ourselves how we have allowed so much to go wrong in our society. Clearly, education and special educational needs play a role in that, but I do think it is important, and the public want, to see swift justice and punishment handed out when people break the law. We did see that at the time of the riots, and I think we should see it all the time.