Twenty years ago, rioters pelted police with bricks and petrol bombs on Railton Road, Brixton, during a weekend of furious street violence. Gerry Northam asks those involved on both sides what had gone wrong, and how much has been learnt from the disorder.

[Caption] Gerry Northam looks back at the Brixton riots of 20 years ago and asks how much. or how little, things have changed

A Long Hot Summer 8.00pm R4
The violence in some British inner cities this summer makes this series of two programmes all the more appropriate, although the producers set out with the intention of marking an anniversary: it is 20 years since the Brixton and Toxteth riots that were to shake the first Thatcher government. Tonight's programe is about Brixton and reporter Gerry Northam talks to people who were involved on both sides of the barricades. He also examines the aftermath, in particular the findings of the inquiry by Lord Scarman, who recommended changes in police procedure. Has anything changed? If so, has it changed for the better? The Brixton riots were the culmination of longrunning distrust between the Metropolitan Police and the black community, a factor that has a clear echo 20 years on.