News from The Labour Party

Take a long hard look at the Tories on crime

When it comes to crime, David Cameron is more concerned with headlines than policies. That’s why he talks Britain down by deliberately misleading the public about crime figures even though his party has been censured by the Statistics Authority for doing this.

The reality is the Conservatives have voted against Labour’s measures to fight crime including opposing changes to the retention of DNA evidence – making it harder for the police to catch criminals. And they have campaigned against the use of CCTV which reduces the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour.

Alan Johnson MP, Labour’s Home Secretary said:

“Labour wants to see a future fair for all and today I am setting out the tough action we are taking to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

“While crime has been cut by over a third since 1997, and Labour is protecting front line policing, the Conservatives have refused to say if they would protect the police budget.

“Labour is clear about what we will do to keep people safe –the Tories’ refusal to reveal their own plans should not go unchallenged. Nor should their election candidates be able to continually mislead the public with dodgy crime statistics.

“I am urging people today to take a long hard look at the Tories’ policies on crime and particularly the fact that they would make it harder for the police to use DNA to catch criminals. Our hard hitting short film exposes how weak the Tories are when it comes to fighting crime.

“The Conservatives have campaigned against the use of CCTV, which the evidence shows reduces the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour. They have made clear they would water down the police’s ability to use DNA evidence – making it harder to convict the most dangerous criminals.”