LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron blamed the worst riots in Britain for decades on street gang members and opportunistic looters and denied government austerity measures or poverty caused the violence in London and other major English cities. Britons ask: What caused the outburst of violence? Four storylines to watch in GOP debate Drug patches pose overlooked danger to kids In Joplin, a diner serves up shelter from the storm Chimp attack victim reveals her new face Grace of a grieving father speaks to a wounded Britain New Starbucks stores popping up again
Cameron told an emergency session of parliament on Thursday that police tactics had failed at the start of the rioting. Courts worked through the night to deal with hundreds of mostly young people arrested during the mayhem.
"The fightback has well and truly begun," said the Conservative leader, in power for 15 months.
"As to the lawless minority, the criminals who've taken what they can get, I say this: We will track you down, we will find you, we will charge you, we will punish you. You will pay for what you have done," Cameron said.
While Britain's streets were clear of looters for a second night in a row, the toll of the riots continued to climb. A 68-year-old man who was attacked during rioting in west London as he tried to put out a fire died late Thursday, police said in a statement.
Richard Mannington Bowes had been in a coma since Monday. Police said a murder investigation has now been opened into his death.
Police in central England said they arrested three people, ages 16, 17 and 26, on suspicion of murder after three men protecting property in Birmingham from rioters were fatally hit by a car.
Grace of a grieving father speaks to a wounded Britain
Community leaders say inequality, cuts to public services by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government and youth unemployment fed into the violence in London, Birmingham, Manchester and other multi-ethnic cities.
Cameron is under pressure from different quarters to ease his austerity plans, toughen policing and do more for inner-city communities, even as economic malaise grips a nation whose social and racial tensions exploded in four nights of mayhem.
His statement was followed by another emergency address to parliament by the finance minister, George Osborne, in the wake of the euro zone debt crisis.
Osborne said Britain's urgency in dealing with its budget deficit was an example to the rest of Europe but many Britons fear large job losses, benefit cuts and reduced services in the government's austerity drive.
The unrest flared first in north London after police shot dead a black man. That disturbance then mutated into widespread looting and violence across several cities.
'It's about culture'
Cameron denied deprivation or the spending cuts, mostly not yet implemented, had caused the riots.
"This is not about poverty, it's about culture. A culture that glorifies violence, shows disrespect to authority, and says everything about rights but nothing about responsibilities," Cameron said.
Story: UK to look to US on how to fight street gangs
The opposition party has also been reluctant to blame budget cuts for the violence, UK's Guardian newspaper reported. Labour leader Ed Miliband said the reasons behind the riots were "complex" and warned against "simplistic solutions" for deeper societal problems, the newspaper reported. Miliband cited parental responsibility and "gang culture" as among issues that were contributing to a sense of lawlessness.
Cameron said he would seek American advice on fighting the street gangs he blamed for helping spark Britain's riots.
He told lawmakers that he would look to cities like Boston for inspiration, and mentioned former Los Angeles, New York and Boston Police Chief William Bratton as a person who could help offer advice.
Bratton said in a statement he'd be "pleased and honored" to provide services and counsel in any capacity, adding that he loves London and has worked with British police for nearly 20 years.
Cameron told lawmakers he wanted to look at cities that had fought gangs "by engaging the police, the voluntary sector and local government."
"I also believe we should be looking beyond our shores to learn the lessons from others who have faced similar problems," Cameron said.
Police have arrested more than 1,200 people across England.
Among those charged were the daughter of a millionaire, a teaching assistant, a charity worker and an 11-year-old boy.
At Westminster magistrates' court, one of the first cases was that of a second-year university law student accused of being part of a gang that ransacked cafes and restaurants in the upmarket area of St John's Wood.
The initial police response was inadequate, Cameron told legislators who had been recalled from their summer break. "There were simply far too few police deployed on to the streets. And the tactics they were using weren't working."
Defending planned police funding cuts against criticism from Miliband, Cameron proposed more police powers, including the right to demand that people remove face coverings if they are suspected of crime.
"I hope that in the debates we have on the causes we don't fall into a tiresome discussion about resources," said Cameron.
"When you have deep moral failures you don't hit them with a wall of money."
Story: UK may disrupt social networks during unrest
Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said this week a 20 percent cut in police funding until 2015, planned by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, would pose great challenges.
"I do sense, without question, resentment (among police officers) that they are now being portrayed in the routine as corrupt, unprofessional and need sorting out," he told Reuters.
On Wednesday, London Mayor Boris Johnson, a member of Cameron's party, called the case for police funding cuts "pretty frail," the Guardian reported.
The British leader said he would maintain a higher police presence of 16,000 officers on London streets through the weekend and would consider calling in the army for secondary roles in future unrest to free up front-line police.
The prime minister promised to compensate people whose property was damaged by rioters, even if they were uninsured. The riots will cost insurers more than 200 million pounds ($320 million), the Association of British Insurers estimated.
Cameron, who has already authorized police to use baton rounds and water cannon where necessary, said he would explore curbs on the use of social media tools if these were being used to plot "violence, disorder and criminality."
Public fury over looting
Many Britons were appalled at the scenes on their streets, from the televised mugging of an injured Malaysian teen-ager to a Polish woman photographed leaping from a burning building, as well as the looting of anything from baby clothes to TV sets.
But occupying the moral high ground is tricky in a country where some lawmakers and policemen have been embroiled in expenses and bribery scandals, and top bankers take huge bonuses even as the taxpayer bails out financial institutions.
Video: Student recovering after attack in London riots
British leaders are concerned the rioting could damage confidence in the economy and in London, one of the world's biggest financial centers and venue for next year's Olympics.
The prime minister said criminal street gangs were at the heart of the violence. "Territorial, hierarchical and incredibly violent, they are mostly composed of young boys, mainly from dysfunctional homes," he added.
Arguing that police, local government and voluntary workers needed to work together to stop inner-city street gangs, as they had in American cities such as Boston, he said: "I want this to be a national priority."
London police staged new raids on apartments Thursday recovering looted designer clothes and iPods.
A surge in police numbers helped calm streets Wednesday night, but the previous episodes of often unchecked disorder have embarrassed the authorities and exhausted emergency services.
Cameron's view of the rioters as thrill-seeking thugs who are indicative of a breakdown in Britain's social fabric and morals has struck a chord with many people.
Others point to chronic tensions between police and youth, a dearth of opportunities for children from disadvantaged areas and visible inequalities where the wealthy often live in elegant houses just yards away from run-down city estates.
Social strains have grown in Britain for some time, with the economy struggling to clamber out of an 18-month recession, one in five young people out of work and high inflation squeezing incomes and hitting the poor hardest.
The crisis has also exposed Britain to opportunistic attack or ridicule from countries stung by frequent Western criticism of their human rights records and who now scent hypocrisy.
Iran's hardline Kayhan newspaper likened the British riots to Arab protests against autocrats, saying the "tumult against illegitimate rule ... has found its way to the heart of Europe."
State media in Libya have also depicted the British unrest as legitimate protests born of social deprivation.
Libyan state television said Cameron was using Irish and Scottish "mercenaries" to tame the riots in English cities.
The embassies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Britian warned their citizens visiting or living there to exercise vigilance and avoid big gatherings.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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