Charles Clarke, Downing Street and other ministers sent out strong signals to the police and prosecuting authorities to take appropriate action against the demonstrators.

Ministers and opposition politicians refrained from joining criticism of the police for failing to arrest people on the spot in the protests at the Danish cartoons. But, while insisting that they would not interfere with the operational independence of the police, they left the authorities in no doubt that they expected action to be taken.

As the Government toughened its stance, a poll for The Times found that two thirds of the British public defends the right of newspapers to publish cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad, but a similar number also believe that they should not do so out of respect for the Muslim community.

Separately, Populus carried out a poll of 500 Muslims in mid-December, which was not commissioned by The Times, but has been made available to the paper. This shows that more than half believe that the Jewish community has too much influence over the direction of British foreign policy.

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, called on the police to “bear down heavily” on the protesters. Downing Street said the behaviour of some of the demonstrators was “completely unacceptable”. In a formal statement it said: “The police should have our full support in any actions they may wish to take in respect of any breaches of the law, though we understand the difficult situation they had to manage.”

Later Mr Clarke told the Commons that the Government would support any action by police against the protesters outside the Danish Embassy. The Home Secretary said the police and prosecuting authorities were carrying out “rigorous assessments” about the appropriate way to proceed.

At the same time, he expressed solidarity with the Danish Government in the face of threats from some Muslims over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper. He condemned the attacks on Danish and other European diplomatic missions in Syria and Lebanon.

Mr Clarke added: “We understand the offence caused by the cartoons depicting the Prophet but freedom of expression must be exercised with respect for the views of others, including their religious beliefs.”

Mr Clarke urged the Tories to drop their opposition to measures in the Terrorism Bill which would make it an offence to encourage terrorism. The Government is intending to try to reverse a defeat in the House of Lords striking out a provision outlawing the “glorification” of terrorism when the Bill returns to the Commons next week.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said it was essential that action was taken against demonstrators who deliberately tried to stir up violence. “Placards carrying the slogans calling for people who insult Islam to be beheaded, or massacred, or annihilated are direct incitements to violence,” he said.

“I do expect that action should be taken — and taken soon — against those who clearly incited violence because it is vital that we make it very clear that incitement to violence has no place in the political life of this country.”

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