Clegg: Make Rioters Clean Up Affected Areas

Communities affected by violence and looting will see offenders in high-visibility jackets carrying out "riot payback", Nick Clegg has said.

Rioters not sent to jail should "look their victims in the eye" and carry out community service instead, the Deputy Prime Minister announced.

He set out the plan in a speech speech reflecting on the damage, violence and looting that swept English cities last week.

Mr Clegg also announced an independent "communities and victims panel" which will look into the causes of the riots.

But it will be an engagement exercise, not a formal public inquiry which may disappoint Labour leader Ed Miliband.

"Victims of crime are only truly protected if punishment leads to criminals not committing crime again. Criminals must be punished and then made to change their ways," Mr Clegg said.

"That's why those people who behaved so despicably last week should have to look their victims in the eye.

"They should have to see for themselves the consequences of their actions and they should be put to work cleaning up the damage and destruction they have caused so they don't do it again," he added.

The Deputy Prime Minister also said from March 2012, every offender will be greeted by someone from the work programme when they leave jail.

That will be the only way to ensure they do not return to their old patterns of behaviour, he explained.

Mr Clegg's remarks come amid reports magistrates have been advised by the courts service to disregard normal guidelines when sentencing people convicted of taking part in the disorder.

It means offenders who would usually be sentenced by a magistrates court could find themselves being sent to crown courts for tougher punishments.

For example, a student caught stealing water bottles has been handed a six month term.

But the Judicial Office has denied judges have been given any directions in terms of sentencing riot-related offences.

"When passing sentences judges consider many factors, including the punishment of offenders, the reduction of crime by deterrence, and the need to protect the public," a spokeswoman said.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband have both called for swift and effective justice to be done.

But in speeches on Monday, they set out their different intepretations of the causes of the disorder and how they think the UK's social problems should be fixed.

Mr Cameron said he blamed irresponsibility, selfishness and absent fathers for causing a "moral decline".

He vowed to wage "war" on gangs, pledged to tackle the 120,000 "most troubled" families in Britain, and said he would ensure government policies do not make it harder for parents to stay together.

Mr Miliband said it was too simplistic to merely blame police, parents or a "feral underclass" and called for an inquiry to be held.

It should listen to the victims in their own communities, not be locked away in Whitehall, he suggested.