Twenty-five years on, we asked politicians, writers and police officers to reflect on their memories of the riots and the impact they had on Britain today.

Diane Abbott Brian Paddick Simon Hughes Diane Abbott MP Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington "The impact of the Brixton riots should not be understated. The idea that black people could stage an insurrection in the heart of the capital was significant. It was definitely seen as a political gesture and made British politicians take racism and racial injustice seriously for the first time. The riots created a climate in which it was possible for myself and three others to be the first black people elected to Parliament in 1987. All of the advances that black people have made in the past 25 years owe something to the fact that young black people took to the streets." Click to return Brian Paddick Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police "I was a sergeant in 1981 and off duty on the day of the riots. I saw pictures of my colleagues under attack, put on my uniform and came to help out. As we approached the front line of the riots with plastic shields, we were attacked by paving slabs, bricks and lumps of concrete. I was not scared at the time, but the day after I realised how much danger we had been in. We were frustrated as we wanted to arrest some of the rioters but I had a responsibility to protect my officers. The rioters were both white and black. This was a battle between people and the police." Click to return Simon Hughes MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, Liberal Democrat President "Brixton 1981 was frightening. Next door in Southwark, we feared it would reach us. The apparently calm transformation of our capital from English London to cosmopolitan London had suddenly, angrily and badly gone wrong. We had escaped student violence in 1968, but had more worryingly rioted 13 years later. For the next ten years inner London remained tense. But the shock, Lord Scarman's wise report and political awakening started a transformation in London policing, London government and London's equality. The road is still harder for many young black British men. But Brixton has changed and Lambeth has changed and prosperity and equality are coming, though there is much still to be done." Click to return

Kwame Kwei-Armah Tarique Ghaffur Kwame Kwei-Armah Writer and actor "I was only 12/13 years old at the time of the riots, but as an adult I look back upon it as being a social uprising. A period of civil unrest that needed to burst a bubble of oppression. I am a direct descendant of the Brixton riots. The Scarman Report legitimised an investigation into the black community and allowed the country to have a discussion about racial equality. It has directly affected my world of the arts. Prior to this, black people were only singularly represented in TV dramas and the theatre. The debate helped rebrand a culture and give black people a voice." Click to return Tarique Ghaffur Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police "Policing has been completely transformed over the 25 years since the Brixton riots. Community engagement is now an integral part of all police interactions informing both local policing decisions but also centrally in the formulation of policy and the policing of serious and organised crime. Brixton, and London as a whole, continues to become more diverse and this ever expanding cultural mix is part of what makes the capital such an exciting city to live and work in. The police are part of this community and we are proud to work so closely in strengthening the strong partnerships we have established." Click to return RELATED BBC PROGRAMMES The Battle for Brixton An eyewitness account of the 1981 Brixton riots told by rioters, police and local residents was broadcast on Monday 10 April on BBC Two at 1900 BST. BBC London 94.9FM Click here for programme details and schedule HAVE YOUR SAY Crime is still as much of an issue as it was 25 years ago in Brixton KGBeep London, Join the debate