Rise in police shootings prompts MP to warn of US-style 'gun culture' spreading to Britain

British police forces were warned yesterday that they risked slipping into a US-style "gun culture" where officers are routinely armed.

Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said that no one had "signed up" to increase the use of firearms within the UK, but Home Office figures showed the number of incidents where police used guns was on the rise across England and Wales.

Mr Hughes' comments come amid mounting concern about officers' use of guns, after three fatal shootings involving a man armed with a replica pistol, another armed with a sword and a man shot dead in bed by police.

"I think the police are in danger of slipping into a culture in which it is acceptable to automatically use guns," Mr Hughes said in an interview for the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme.

"That has never been the British culture. We have always said we do not want to go down the American road, and we have special procedures for allowing it to happen but they [shootings] are becoming more and more commonplace.

"Before we know where we are, we will find the police in general using guns, which is not what we ever signed up to."

Mr Hughes also voiced his concern over proposals to introduce the electronic "Taser" stun guns to Britain.

The American devices, which can incapacitate criminals, should not be brought in until they had been thoroughly tested in the UK and the Home Office group examining all alternatives to guns had reported, Mr Hughes said.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan, Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, who is involved in developing policing strategies across the UK, said the stun guns would not be introduced prematurely.

"I share Simon's reservations but I would want to reassure the public at large there is no risk whatsoever of the police service drifting towards such a culture," he said.

"There is no question whatsoever of these, or any other things, being deployed without widespread research."

The two forces that were examining their use were carrying out very detailed and welcome research, Sir Ronnie added. "It is well worth the research to determine whether this is an option that we should have available to us in appropriate circumstances. But those circumstances, I guess, would be rather limited."

Sir Ronnie said British forces were increasingly sharing their experience with European counterparts. And, in the wake of the anti-globalisation demonstrations, a Europe-wide set of guidelines for dealing with public disorder should be developed, he said.

"What we must do is devise a model for an approach to public order whereby we share experience, whereby we come together, whereby we co-ordinate our intelligence and our effort and whereby we know the potential troublemakers and seek to take steps early enough to prevent them becoming engaged," Sir Ronnie said.