Police forces need to be better prepared for serious violence and disorder, according to a review of the response to this summer’s riots.

The report also found police failed to realise the significance of a number of events leading up to the riots, leaving gaps in intelligence linked to social media and the dark web.

Violence flared across the country following the deaths of three schoolgirls in a knife attack in Southport in Merseyside in July.

The unrest and disorder continued for several days.

In September, the home secretary asked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services to carry out a rapid review into the policing response to the disorder.

The first part of the report, which is published today, said that officers had showed “immense bravery and personal sacrifice” throughout the disorder but that forces were unprepared for the scale of the rioting.

It said the decision by the National Police Chiefs’ Council to implement a national mobilisation plan on 6 August was made too late and should have been activated four days earlier.

The inspectorate said a number of events in 2023 and 2024 were indicators of potential future disorder but this had not been reflected in police intelligence reviews.

“Our assessment of these incidents suggests that the risks of disorder were greater than the police believed them to be,” it said. “They involved extreme nationalist sentiment, aggravated activism or serious disorder.”

The incidents included demonstrations organised by Tommy Robinson, unrest in Leeds and Cardiff and violence on Armistice Day in London.

The report also concluded that the dress code initially handed down by commanders could have left officers vulnerable to injury.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Andy Cooke, told Sky News: “Officers shouldn’t have to stand there and be subjected to that level of barrage that we saw.

“Policing needs to look again at how quickly it mobilises more resources in these instances to actually ensure that those officers aren’t stood in these lines for so long, that different tactics can be used. To do different tactics you need more resources.

“Getting officers to these locations where there are problems quickly is a critical part of that.”

He praised the dedication and bravery of officers who had protected the public. Some 302 officers were injured in the violence, with more than 50 needing hospital treatment.

He said some of the most sustained violence was faced by officers who came under siege while protecting hotels housing migrants.

Female officers and those from minority backgrounds bore the brunt of the attacks.

‘A complex situation’

The inspectorate found the speedy identification and prosecution of hundreds of people involved in the riots helped to bring an end to the violence.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for public disorder, Chief Constable BJ Harrington said it was encouraging the report acknowledged “the immense bravery and professionalism” of officers.

He said the finding that the national mobilisation plan should have been made earlier was a “helpful recommendation”.

He added: “Hindsight can be useful, and these learnings are important, but we are pleased that the Inspectorate also recognise how complex of a situation this was for policing to respond to, and that on the whole, the service did so well.”

In Walton on Merseyside, where rioters burned down a community library, there was broad support for the efforts of police to control to the summer’s disorder.

The Spellow Community Hub and Library reopened last week and the city council’s head of libraries Alicia Smith said: “Our emergency services were amazing.”

A second report from the inspectorate, which will look at social media misinformation among other things, is due to be published in the spring.

Mr Cooke said the focus should be on being prepared: “I doubt it will be another 14 years before we see serious disorder. I hope it is, but I doubt it.”

One in four women who have given birth in the UK have reported a negative experience, new research finds, with campaigners calling on the health secretary to take urgent action to fix a “broken” system.

Research carried out by campaign group Delivering Better also found that of those who reported a negative experience, more than half (54%) said they were less likely to want to have more children.

More than a third of all mothers said their birth experience left them with long-term mental health issues, a figure which jumps to seven out of 10 when respondents suffered a poor birthing experience.

In September, the Care Quality Commission warned failings within NHS England maternity services were “more widespread” than previously thought. Health Secretary Wes Streeting responded saying the findings were “cause for national shame”.

The warning came months after a maternity expert behind a key report told Sky News she was “angry” about inaction from the previous government.

After saying the “crisis in our maternity services… is one of the biggest issues that keeps me awake at night”, Mr Streeting in October launched a “national conversation”, asking staff and patients alike about their experience of the NHS to help structure a plan to fix it.

But Delivering Better, which is made up of campaigning mothers, said evidence is already available with an estimated 1,600 babies being born in the UK every day.

Jo Cruse, who founded Delivering Better following her own experience of a traumatic birth, said: “My birth gave me my beautiful daughter, but it took away my dignity.

“I developed suspected Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the long-term physical and mental health impacts still affect me three years later.

“Yet, according to the NHS my birth experience was recorded as successful.”

Speaking of what she described as a “maternity care crisis”, Ms Cruse said there were “thousands of mothers broken by births”.

She went on: “What human cost has to be paid before we start to see urgent change? Everyone deserves to give birth with dignity. Yet every day, women, their babies, their families and the healthcare professionals who endeavour to care for them are being failed by a broken system.”

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Among Delivering Better’s recommendations are a greater continuity of care throughout pregnancy, as a vast majority of women (88%) want the opportunity to see the same midwife throughout their pregnancy – but provision varies significantly across trusts.

The group is also calling on GPs to check in more regularly with new mums, at three and six months post-partum to monitor their physical and mental health.

Avanti West Coast staff are set to strike after rejecting a deal aimed at resolving a dispute over rest day working.

Train managers will strike on New Year’s Eve, 2 January and Sundays between 12 January and 25 May, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said.

An RMT spokesperson said: “Our members have resoundingly rejected Avanti’s latest offers in two referendums and sustained strike action is now the only way to focus management’s minds on reaching a negotiated settlement with the union.”

Up to 400 members of the RMT are involved in the dispute and 83% voted against a suggested deal, the union added.

Strikes planned for 22, 23, and 29 December were suspended last week after a suggested agreement was put to a referendum of RMT members.

The train line operates six routes along the west of the UK, including from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly.

It also runs services from the capital to Blackpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Holyhead, Wrexham and Liverpool.

Avanti said the strikes will cause “significant disruption” to passengers and it was looking at how they will impact services.

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An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: “We’re disappointed our train managers who are RMT members have voted to decline the very reasonable, revised offer made to them to resolve the rest day working dispute and avoid inconveniencing our customers.

“We remain open to working with the RMT to resolve the dispute.”