David Cameron: Police can use water cannon to control riots

Ministers have drawn up plans to allow police to deploy water cannon at 24 hours notice, David Cameron announced on Wednesday.

In a statement outside No 10, the prime minister insisted police would get whatever resources they needed to bring the rioting across England under control, and that every contingency was being looked at.

Cameron said there was evidence that the "more robust" approach being taken by the police was working, but he also made a series of announcements showing the government's determination to maintain a hardline stance. He revealed that:

• Police have permission to use rubber bullets if they want.

• Water cannon are available if the police want to use them. "We now have in place contingency plans for water cannon to be available at 24 hours notice," Cameron said.

• Courts will carry on sitting overnight to deal with riots cases. More than 160 people have already been charged. "Courts sat through the night last night and will do again tonight," he said.

• Photographs of rioters will continue to be published to allow them to be identified. "Major police operations are under way, as I speak, to arrest the criminals who were not picked up last night but who were picked up on close circuit television cameras," the prime minister said.

"Picture by picture, these criminals are being identified and arrested, and we will not let any phony concerns about human rights get in the way of the publication of these pictures and the arrest of these individuals."

• Those involved in violence would be sent to prison, he said, adding: "It is for the courts to sentence, but I would expect anyone convicted of violent disorder to be sent to prison."

Cameron, who issued his statement after chairing a meeting of the government's emergency committee, Cobra, also used it to reject Boris Johnson's demand for police budget cuts to be reversed.

At the Cobra meeting, Cameron asked the police if they had everything they needed, and they told him they did, he said.

Mayors and local authorities "always want more money," he said, adding: "I don't blame them for that – it's the government's job to make sure they get want they need and get the most out of what they've got.

"We won't do anything that will reduce the amount of visible policing on our streets. We won't do anything that will put the public at risk."

Cameron also claimed the riots showed there was something seriously wrong with society. "There are pockets of our society that are not just broken, but frankly sick," he said.

"When we see children as young as 12 and 13 looting and laughing, when we see the disgusting sight of a young man with people pretending to help him while they are robbing him, it is clear that there are things badly wrong with our society."

Cameron he believed the problem was a "complete lack of responsibility".

"People allowed to feel that the world owes them something, that their rights outweigh their responsibilities, and their actions do not have consequences. Well, they do have consequences.

"We need to have a clearer code of values and standards that we expect people to live by and stronger penalties if they cross the line."

But he also said the rioting had shown the strengths of British society. "We have seen the worst of Britain, but I also believe we have seen some of the best of Britain – the million people who have signed up on Facebook to support the police, coming together in the clean-up operations," he added.

The prime minister insisted the government would restore order. "We needed a fightback, and a fightback is under way," he said.

"Whatever resources the police need, they will get. Whatever tactics the police feel they need to employ, they will have legal backing to do so.

"We will do whatever is necessary to restore law and order on our streets. Every contingency is being looked at. Nothing is off the table."

Cameron said he would set out further details of the government's response in the statement to the Commons on Thursday.

Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, has already urged him to ensure that the government helps individuals, businesses and authorities affecting by the rioting, and Cameron said he would address this in his Commons statement.