i was extremely impressed when i went to the control center and saw that chris simms was spending as much of his time on meeting and talking with community leaders and representatives as he was on planning to make sure there were the right number of police on the streets right across the west midlands. it was very impressive, the birmingham city council paid a big role as well. >> thank you, mr. speaker. will the prime minister join me in paying tribute to the 1300 voluntary special constables who played a vital part in restoring calm on tuesdays, but many special constables including one in my constituency struggle today insure permission from their employer in order to take part in the -- >> i think the honorable gentleman is entirely right. there has been a growth in specials in the recent period in some sports forces that's hugely welcome, but i think we do need employers to show a sense of social responsibility to release them rapidly for service when they're needed. >> simon -- [inaudible] >> thank you, mr. speaker. i welcome the 20 million pounds for high street businesses, bu

the chief constable of the area, west midland's chris simms, said this was seemingly coordinated criminal behavior with no regard for people's lives, whether through setting a fire, shooting at armed officers or shooting at the police helicopter. he goes on to say this investigation is being treated as attempted murder and arson and only thankful that this is not a murder inquiry. imagine what would have happened if they had hit the police helicopter. this could have been really very serious, indeed. >> dan, i have to ask you, i mean this has been going on for weeks and it's only gotten worse. what is it going to take and i'm sure you've spoken to people on the streets there, what is it going to take for this to stop? >> well, i mean, at the moment, things have called down. this video was actually from the 9th of august, only just released today. but, for the last few days, there has been a complete calm here. they have surged the number of police officers in london and other big cities, completely flooded the streets with high visibility officers on horses and just, you know, lots of off