Does Kahlid Mahmood Show His True Colours Here?

The disgusting violence in Birmingham at the weekend has been covered well by LfaT, Constantly Furious and Leg-Iron, so I won’t cover that ground. Laban has a good look at the history of such events in the past too.

But the follow-up might just play into New Labour’s hands nicely:

Police are today considering applying for injunctions barring troublemakers after 35 people were arrested following a city centre clash.

Which set of troublemakers does he mean, I wonder?

And why is he so sure that they travelled to Birmingham, rather than already being resident there?

Today Chief Inspector Mark Payne, from West Midlands Police, said there were 35 arrests, mainly for disorder.

Three people were injured and there were several reports of damage, including a car.

He said the force will consider applying for injunctions to stop troublemakers travelling to the West Midlands.

And what if some of them didn’t travel? What if some of them were from Birmingham?

"It is important to be aware that West Midlands Police have no powers to ban or stop peaceful protests and would not seek to do so.

"However, if criminal acts or racially aggravated incidents are reported, then police will arrest and prosecute anyone found to be responsible."

On both sides?

Today Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr, condemned both groups involved in the clash for putting innocent people at risk.

Well, that’s encouraging, at le…

Oh:

"I firmly believe in the right for people to protest but to do it peacefully. These people have shown they cannot do that so they shouldn't be given any licences to protest."

Hmmm, ‘licences’, eh? A slip of the tongue?

Or does he really believe that we need – or should need, maybe in future – licences from the government in order to protest?