| Who
is "tougher" on law and order? Jack
Straw or William Hague? Both
want to "out-tough" each other. Both
promise "tougher" laws – which
then become "tougher" because the other
comes up with an even "tougher" policy.
No one is fooled by this rhetoric.
And in this competitive
rhetoric both mock some mythical
"liberal" establishment, blaming
"liberals" for causing all the crime.
Who these "liberals" are is never
clear. (I presume it can’t be Liberal
Democrats, as, if they hadn’t noticed, my
party hasn’t been in power at Westminster
since the 1920s.)
For Jack Straw, it would appear
these woolly "liberals" all live in
Hampstead. William Hague’s definition of
"liberals" seems to be Governments over
the last forty years (except Michael Howard),
even though that means mostly Conservative
Governments, including Mrs.Thatcher’s.
What I find most ironic about
this posture politics, is that Jack Straw and
William Hague have served in Governments that cut
the police.
In the two years before the
last election, the Conservatives cut police
numbers across London, with Kingston alone losing
over 40 officers. Jack Straw’s first three
years as Home Secretary saw similar cutbacks.
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Moreover,
while Jack Straw and William Hague served as
Ministers, police morale in London plummeted.
First, the Conservatives abolished the housing
allowance, which had compensated officers for
London housing costs. The net result? Huge
recruitment problems. Second, this Government
appears to sit back while the police are blamed
for everything that goes wrong in the criminal
justice system. So,
speaking as a Liberal, I want to say
something to these "tough" talkers.
However many new laws you pass,
you need people to deter, catch and arrest the
criminals in the first place. Remind us, Mr.Hague
and Mr.Straw, why did you cut the police?
Because you won’t crack
down on crime if you don’t invest in more
police, so officers can respond quickly when the
public dials "999".
You won’t tackle the
hooligan or graffiti vandal without more beat
officers, who know the local community.
And we don’t just need
more police. We need police that know they have
the community and their politicians backing them.
Sorry if that’s a bit too
"Liberal" for you, Mr.Straw and
Mr.Hague.
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