Labour's Failure To Tackle Crime Hits The Poorest The Hardest

I spoke to the Durham Union on Friday in favour of the motion that "Britain is too soft on crime." The Shadow Justice Secretary, Dominic Grieve MP, was also speaking The Durham Union is a great venue and there were some really classy contributions from both sides of the debate.

My argument was quite simple - it is working class areas who suffer most from crime and it is working class areas that suffer most from this Government being soft on crime. I made the point that if you suggested in any council estste in the country that we were not being too soft on crime, you would be laughed out of town. If you live in the 20% most deprived areas of the country you are twice as likely to be a victim of violent crime than if you live in the 20% least deprived areas.

In the UK, there were 4 million instances of anti social behaviour last year alone, as well as over a million violent crimes. For 50,000 of these violent crimes, including around 800 GBH offences, the offenders were issued with nothing more than a caution - a ticking off.

At the same time, the Government has completely failed to do anything to improve education and rehabilitation in prisons. It has presided over a society where poverty has increased and inequality has widened. It has so burdened the Police in red tape that Police officers spend more time filling in forms than they do on the beat.

We need to do more to tackle crime and tackle the causes of crime. This Government has blatantly failed on both counts and has let down the poorest in society.

The Durham Union clearly agreed - they voted at the end of the debate that Britain was, indeed, too soft on crime.