20/08/07 - Cllr Tomlinson, Labour's Track Record On Crime Is A Crime

Labour’s track record on crime is a disgrace – we are seeing the scourge of violent – and all too often fatal – crime blighting our towns and communities, with innocent people paying the price.

Take just one example.  Over two years ago it was apparent knife crime was on the rising, and the Conservatives tried to change the law to raise the maximum penalty for possession of a knife from two to five years.  Clueless Labour Minister Hazel Blears (good chum on Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove) dismissed this call.  It took two years of pressure from us before the Government conceded their error and raised the maximum penalty to four years in jail.

In the meantime, our police officers are still kept behind their desks, tied up in increasing Government red tape.  They try to cover this up by replacing proper policemen with PCSOs – and some of them are only 16.

If a yob is actually caught, the most they are likely to face is a fine – even though nearly half of all fines never get paid anyway.  They might end up with ASBO, but two-thirds of these are breached.

Labour have been equally useless in tackling the causes of crime: indeed the Government has made things worse.  It downgrades cannabis, and drug offences have increased by 50%, 24-hour drinking has been unleashed on our towns and communities and family breakdown is increasing.

Conservatives would enforce tougher sentences and sanctions.  We would also put more police officers back on the streets and have adequate prison capacity to ensure those who should be in jail are in jail.

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, Prospective MP Swindon North, “Labour peddle utter nonsense about falling crime.  Outside the New Labour champagne bubble, all too often our streets are blighted by anti-social behaviour and escalating violent crime.  It is only the Conservatives who will tackle the yob culture, working with parents, schools, communities and the police – we will deliver police on the streets armed , tougher punishments and increased prison capacity.”