'Crime' under New Labour.
New Labour pledged to be " Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime"

Labour Policies have increased crime and the public now recognise that Blair and New Labour have failed.
Labour claims of Increased Police numbers and Improved Public Safety are not what they seem ! In fact Labour policies on crime and policing appear to have been the root cause of the significant increases of crime of all types under their Government.Under New Labour the effectiveness of policing has been more than halved.

• Increases of Police numbers of around 12,000 between 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2004 years to 'put more police on the beat' have been met by an increase in crime and less police seen on the street. That seems contradictory until you look at New Labour policies which have resulted in less police on the beat, covering smaller areas and a massive increase of office based paperwork. These prevent the police doing their job.
  • Health and Safety Policies have been interpreted by the Government to force police to patrol in pairs. Patrolling in pairs, even though police numbers have increased by some 10% (just over 1% each year under New Labour), they can only
    • cover half as many beats
    • respond to half as many crimes, and
    • in pairs they talk to each other rather than the public, missing
    • interaction with the public and a a change in police-public perceptions and
    • losing a huge amount of local intelligence information on what is going on locally and who is up to 'no good'
  • Crime fighting abilities have actually been reduced by half by these New Labour Policies - to keep the abilities the same they would have needed to Double police numbers! It also explains why everyone now sees far less police on the street !
  • New Labour Targets and Paperwork have led to police now
    • spending roughly 50% of their time in the office sat at a computer filling in reports
    • Chief Constables being prevented from prioritising the use of their police officers in the best way
  • Small wonder that police presence on the street has reduced and crimes have risen. The other very significant fact associated with this is that traditionally a bobby on patrol in a town would talk to people and hear everything that was going on; of huge value in solving and preventing crime. Now, in pairs, they talk to each other rather than the public .......... small wonder that most crimes now go unsolved and unpunished.
    

• Since Labour came to power in Britain the increase in drug abuse has made Britain the Drugs Capital of Europe….
  • Heroin - highest levels of seizures in Europe and only Luxembourg and Portugal have more (registered) users.
  • Amphetamines - highest level of amphetamine abuse anywhere in Europe.
  • Ecstasy - 3rd largest consumer of Ecstasy - with Ireland and the Czech republic just ahead
  • Cocaine - increasing use in Britain and now 10% of those aged between 15 and 34 have used the drug.
  • Cannabis - Steady increase in cannabis abuse since 1997. (Statistics all from 2005 Report by the International Narcotics Control Board - founded by the United Nations as reported in the Sunday Times on 27th Feb 2005)
• David Blunkett, as Home Secretary, controversially reduced the classification of Cannabis and as a result was directly responsible for a 30% increase in cannabis possession in London over the next year (Metropolitan Police report)
  
  
• After 8 years of Labour Government (and a youth crime explosion) 25% of young people between the age of 14 and 17 are now a 'serious or prolific offender' (Home Office statistics). Far from being 'Tough on crime, Tough on the causes of Crime' Labour policies and policing failures seem to have Encouraged Crime.
  
  
• Binge Drinking at unprecedented levels - Caused by New Labour policies ? We have all seen news coverage of hordes of drunken youngsters piling out of town bars and pubs to brawl on the street while van loads of police try and mop up the mess. This didn't happen before New Labour came to power and should not have been allowed to develop. The 1964 Licensing Act and section 59 made it an offence for a Drunk to be allowed on Licensed premises and with virtually no defence to this charge. A conviction for the landlord meant loss of license and the pub or bar closed. Until New Labour came along a Landlord made very sure that his premises did not allow excess drinking, if it did he knew he would lose his license - but that seems to have changed in recent years. So why did the police stop enforcing this Act and instead deploy huge numbers of police in mopping up on the streets when they should have been dealing with burglaries or robberies? Recent news reports have pointed out the 'closeness' between new Labour and the drinks industry ...........
  
  
• The only significant area where crime has reduced is in vehicle crime and this has resulted not from policing but by significantly improved vehicle security systems fitted by the manufacturers. Labour, as one would expect claim it as their success!
• MPs recently accused the Home Office of concealing the fact that it was failing to meet its "offences brought to justice" target in its 2004 report. (Feb 2005)
  
  

• Violent Crime and murders are at an all time highI