Who said what to whom?
The Queen’s Speech included three draft bills, one of which would, in the words of the government’s background note, “Reform the existing Riot (Damages) Act, improving and modernising the way compensation is paid to individuals and businesses who experience losses or damage to property during riots.”
Alas, the Queen herself did not read the Riot Act during her speech.
What does it mean?
One of the proposals is that the government would provide compensation for those people who have their vehicles damaged during a riot.
What could go wrong?
France traditionally has a problem with burnt out cars. Over 8,000 vehicles were damaged during the riots in 2005 and typically over a thousand are burnt on New Year’s Eve. President Sarkozy’s government stopped releasing the total number of cars burnt because it feared that this was spurring competition among car-burners to break existing records.
The UK government’s proposal would presumably lead to them publishing the number of damaged vehicles for which compensation has been paid, creating the “can we beat the record?” problem. Equally, if rioters know that the government is picking up the bill for damaged cars, and the government is what they are reacting against, this could drive up the number of damaged cars.
When will we know?
The background note does not predict when the next riot might occur.
Commitment rating: 1
This is a Draft Bill announced in the last session of the Parliament, it will not pass into law this side of the election and will have to be brought back to Parliament after 2015. As a consequence, perhaps the Queen will read the Riot Act in a future speech.
The Queen’s Speech included three draft bills, one of which would, in the words of the government’s background note, “Reform the existing Riot (Damages) Act, improving and modernising the way compensation is paid to individuals and businesses who experience losses or damage to property during riots.”
Alas, the Queen herself did not read the Riot Act during her speech.
What does it mean?
One of the proposals is that the government would provide compensation for those people who have their vehicles damaged during a riot.
What could go wrong?
France traditionally has a problem with burnt out cars. Over 8,000 vehicles were damaged during the riots in 2005 and typically over a thousand are burnt on New Year’s Eve. President Sarkozy’s government stopped releasing the total number of cars burnt because it feared that this was spurring competition among car-burners to break existing records.
The UK government’s proposal would presumably lead to them publishing the number of damaged vehicles for which compensation has been paid, creating the “can we beat the record?” problem. Equally, if rioters know that the government is picking up the bill for damaged cars, and the government is what they are reacting against, this could drive up the number of damaged cars.
When will we know?
The background note does not predict when the next riot might occur.
Commitment rating: 1
This is a Draft Bill announced in the last session of the Parliament, it will not pass into law this side of the election and will have to be brought back to Parliament after 2015. As a consequence, perhaps the Queen will read the Riot Act in a future speech.
