Sir Keir Starmer risks losing Middle England if the mass early release of offenders stokes fear of crime
Police chiefs have sounded the alarm about the need for investment (Image: Getty)
Labour will lose its last supporters in Middle England if criminals strengthen their hold on the communities they torment. When senior figures in the police and security services break their silence to warn of the consequences of the planned early release of offenders, Sir Keir Starmer must listen.
Labour is finished if it ignores how the fear of crime wrecks lives. The warnings come as Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s “drugs commission” recommends that possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use should be decriminalised.
People who live in neighbourhoods where the air swirls with the stench of cannabis will groan at this call for the removal of a deterrent against drug use. Every whiff breathed in by parents and their children is a reminder that the drug trade operates around their homes and that the law is not enforced.
Similarly, shopkeepers will shudder at the thought of thieves and thugs returning to their postcode. Nobody pretends that Britain’s crisis-wracked prisons excel at turning troubled lives around, but the public want to see crime punished and the imprisonment of prolific offenders gives respite to communities
A turning point in the development of modern Labour came in 1993, when a young shadow home secretary called Tony Blair took to the conference stage and declared: “Labour is the party of law and order in Britain today. Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime.”
It is ironic that confidence in Labour’s ability to tackle crime threatens to collapse on the watch of Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions. It is a double irony that the Mayor’s drugs commission is chaired by Lord Falconer, Sir Tony’s old flatmate from his days as a barrister.
Crime alert comes as Reform UK leads Labour by eight points
Lee Anderson is among the Reform UK MPs who will portray Labour as weak on law and order (Image: Getty)
The present Government must not go soft on crime. The death of the high street and the hollowing out of town centres are a source of distress for people who long for a revival of civic pride. It is distressing to see well-loved stores shuttered, but it is frightening when yobs and drug dealers turn streets into no-go areas.
This hurts the economy, encourages the elderly to stay at home and – crucially – deepens a sense of injustice among ordinary people.
Rival parties will tap into the fear and frustration from which crime spawns. When the latest YouGov poll shows Reform UK is eight points ahead of Labour on 29% – and the Conservatives (19%) are in no doubt about the importance of recovering their reputation as a party of crimefighters – Sir Keir cannot afford to surrender on law and order.
