Leicester disorder: Government announces new review

An independent review into unrest in East Leicester in August and September last year has been announced.

Several days of vandalism, assaults, and attacks on property followed tensions involving mainly young men from Hindu and Muslim communities.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby set up a review but it stalled when the academic chosen to lead it stepped down.

Now a new panel, led by former Labour MP Lord Austin, will look into the events, the government has said.

In March, Leicestershire Police secured a £1.3m grant to cover the cost of dealing with the unrest.

Now Communities Secretary Michael Gove has appointed Lord Austin, former Minister for Housing and Planning and former Minister for the West Midlands, to head up a new review.

He will lead an independent panel of experts - yet to be named - to work on "understanding the origins of the unrest and explore how similar events can be prevented in the future, both in Leicester and elsewhere".

Lord Austin said: "Communities living and working together have formed some of the most vibrant societies across the country and cities such as Leicester have proud histories of tolerance and diversity.

"This makes the scenes we witnessed in Leicester last year all the more worrying and it is therefore so important that we listen to people in Leicester to get to the bottom of what happened and why."

Sir Peter said he welcomed the move and hoped it could progress "as swiftly as possible".

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