The British Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, has told those responsible for three nights of "wanton destruction and violence" he will not tolerate attacks on the police or the destruction of communities.
His determination to face down the Bradford rioters was matched by police on the ground who urged the minority Asian community to name those responsible within their midst for committing "devastating" criminal acts. Violence by white and Asian youths first flared in the city on Saturday night.
In a frank statement in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Blunkett condemned the disturbances as "senseless criminality" and said the government in conjunction with local people would conduct an urgent review into the unrest during which two white men were stabbed and more than 200 police were injured.
Sending a strong signal that the government was treating the disturbances as a law-and-order issue, Mr Blunkett said he would not accept the destruction of hard-won improvements in some of the most difficult areas of Britain.
"The message must be unequivocal and unwavering: whatever the debate about alienation and disaffection, attacking the police, destroying the well-being of the local community and playing into the hands of organised groups will simply not be tolerated," Mr Blunkett said.
As Bradford council prepares to issue a report on race relations this week which will say that, rather than a confident, multicultural society, communal intolerance is growing, police called on the Asian community to name criminals.
The officer leading the investigation into more than 300 criminal acts committed during the disturbances, Det Chief Supt Max McLean, said every incident would be investigated for a racial element; current evidence suggested Asians were responsible for most of the violence.
"It was the crimes of a few watched by many. We would ask young people to put aside their loyalties and name the main protagonists who incited others to commit such violent acts. Now is the time to stand up and be counted and inform us of the people responsible," Mr McLean added.
The clashes on Saturday night followed an attack on an Asian by white youths. The tense atmosphere had been building throughout the day amid rumours that the National Front was planning to stage a march in Bradford. Although the march did not take place Asian and white youths later rioted and attacked the police.