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Responding to Boris Johnson's announcement of an extension of stop and search powers and the creation of new prison places, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:
“Boris Johnson isn’t tough on crime – or tough on the causes of crime.
“Far too many young lives are being destroyed by an epidemic of serious violence, and Johnson doesn’t have any answers. He just wants to repeat the failed policies of the past.
“This announcement today will not make our streets safer.
“He tried a big increase in suspicion-less Stop & Search when he was Mayor of London, but his own Government’s analysis shows it didn’t work to cut crime. All it does is disproportionately affect BAME communities and undermine the very community policing we need to stop young people carrying knives.
“The Tories already tried introducing tougher prison sentences for knife crime, and knife crime has soared. The UK already imprisons more people than any other country in Western Europe. Instead of wasting money locking more people up, the Government should be investing in the things that prevent crime, like community policing and youth services."
“Boris Johnson isn’t tough on crime – or tough on the causes of crime.
“Far too many young lives are being destroyed by an epidemic of serious violence, and Johnson doesn’t have any answers. He just wants to repeat the failed policies of the past.
“This announcement today will not make our streets safer.
“He tried a big increase in suspicion-less Stop & Search when he was Mayor of London, but his own Government’s analysis shows it didn’t work to cut crime. All it does is disproportionately affect BAME communities and undermine the very community policing we need to stop young people carrying knives.
“The Tories already tried introducing tougher prison sentences for knife crime, and knife crime has soared. The UK already imprisons more people than any other country in Western Europe. Instead of wasting money locking more people up, the Government should be investing in the things that prevent crime, like community policing and youth services."
2 comments:
Repeating myself: Wales could do a better job if policing and prisons were devolved. We could get rid of the bureaucratic PCC system, releasing funds for local policing. Our prisons would cease to be dumping grounds for English convicts, improving the officer-to-prisoner ratio and allowing more time for rehabilitation. This would also reduce violence and cut the scourge of illegal drugs.
If our temporary prime minister is serious about making prison sentences meaningful, he could reduce the prison population by taking off the statute book the plethora of imprisonable offences created by the Blair-Brown government. He should restore the discretion of judges to vary sentences, so that long sentences should not automatically be imposed where they were unwarranted or counter-productive. Of course, this would mean facing down the rabid Mail-Exprees-Sun axis.
I share his instinct that sentences decided upon by the judicial process should not be cut short purely for administrative convenience, but he and Home Secretary Patel need to restore the cuts in prison officer numbers as well as providing the physical prison places.
Susslaws failed in the 80s.The police already have the powers to check people out for crime.Yes the CAUSES of crime are the things that need addressing. This is to get votes for an upcoming election. Cheap and nasty.
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