Cameron Vows to Tackle UK's 'Broken Society' in Wake of Street Riots

UK PM David Cameron vowed to tackle Britain's "broken society" after last week's riots in a speech in Oxfordshire. Photo by the BBC

Working to fix Britain's "broken society" will be No. 1 priority of Prime Minister David Cameron, he declared Monday, after last week street riots shocked the UK.

"The broken society is back at the top of my agenda," Cameron said in Oxfordshire on Monday, as cited by the BBC. "We have been too unwilling for too long to talk about what is right and what is wrong. We have too often avoided saying what needs to be said - about everything from marriage to welfare to common courtesy."

He further stressed that part of his plans to tackle what he called a "moral collapse" would be an "all-out war" on street gangs.

Riots and looting hit several British cities, leaving over 100 police officers injured on August 6-10. The disturbances were triggered by the shooting dead of London resident and suspected drug dealer Mark Duggan.

Total arrests across seven police forces on Monday morning were 2,772 - 1,406 of whom have been charged, the BBC reported.

As part of his new "broken society" priorities, the British PM further said he would review government policies and speed up plans to deal with "problem" families, improve parenting and education.

Cameron described the disorder that spread from London to parts of the East and West Midlands, Merseyside, Bristol, Manchester and Gloucester as "a wake-up call for our country".

In his words, the riots were not about cuts, poverty or race. They were about the difference between right and wrong.

Meanwhile, British opposition Labor leader Ed Miliband criticized Cameron's approach, saying that poverty and national culture mattered, and that bankers, MPs and journalists had been greedy, selfish and immoral as well as the rioters.

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