South Yorkshire Police bosses misjudged riot threat at Rotherham asylum seeker hotel: The Yorkshire Post says

But the Home Affairs Committee findings also raise questions about how well some forces were prepared for what unfolded, particularly in regard to South Yorkshire Police’s handling of the appalling attack on Holiday Inn Express hotel in Manvers which was housing asylum seekers.

The committee’s hearings revealed senior SYP commanders had assumed a protest outside the hotel would be peaceful because a similar demonstration the year before had been.

When asked about whether more officers should have been sent given the scenes of violence that had been spreading across the country in the days before, SYP chief constable Lauren Poultney answered “those who devised the command structure were confident that it was the right level” but added that “knowing what we know now, there are clearly things that we would reconsider and potentially do differently”.

Police on the ground were initially overwhelmed, with multiple officers injured by items such as bricks, fenceposts and branches as rioters attempted to burn down the hotel. Officers had to endure sustained attack and hold off on making arrests due to the need for the limited numbers there to stay in position and protect those inside the hotel.

MPs found: “After disorder in Southport, police forces should not have taken it for granted that subsequent planned protests would remain peaceful.”

Such criticism is not merely hindsight; three days before the events in Rotherham, the National Police Chiefs’ Council had asked forces to review their intelligence, adopt a risk-averse approach and be ready to respond to disorder. That seemingly failed to happen at Manvers.