Labour promises to “crack down on community crime at its source”

Yvette Cooper has told voters that Labour would “crack down on community crime at its source” as the party highlighted figures showing that the number of arrests made annually has fallen by 50% since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

Commenting on the analysis by Labour, which showed that arrests made each year fell from 1.3 million in 2010 to just over 600,000 in 2021, the Shadow Home Secretary argued that “protecting law and order should be any government’s first priority”.

“Yet just as the Prime Minister disregards the law in No 10, his government is failing to back police to enforce it on our streets. Communities across the country are becoming increasingly frustrated when nothing is done about crime and antisocial behaviour,” she said.

“When the public report crimes, they expect a quick and strong response. But despite the best efforts of policing, Priti Patel’s Home Office is completely letting everyone down. Labour will back our police to take action, introducing local neighbourhood prevention teams to crack down on community crime at its source. Britain deserves better.”

A recent freedom of information request also showed that, between 2010 and 2018, response times to 999 calls increased by 32% and analysis of 101 calls found that 23.7% were not handled within the target time and 11.8% were not answered.

Labour earlier this month pledged to create a system of ‘community and victim payback boards’ (CVPBs) in a bid to strengthen community and victim involvement in sentencing, reduce antisocial behaviour and stop more serious offending.

The party said locally appointed CVPBs would operate through community safety partnerships or other existing infrastructure at no additional cost, creating a “new level of involvement for community leaders and victims of crime in deciding what unpaid work offenders must undertake”.

Keir Starmer used a major speech in Birmingham at the start of the year to set out his proposal for a new “contract with the British people”, based on three principles: “security”, “prosperity” and “respect”.

“The first duty of a government is the security of its citizens. I was once this country’s leading prosecutor. Crime and anti-social behaviour are issues that matter to me personally. I have seen too many victims of crime, most of them not at all well off, not to know that security is a matter of social justice,” he said.

“Labour will provide crime prevention teams in every neighbourhood. New police hubs will be visible in every community. We will introduce a tough new approach to closing down drug dens with new powers for local police and local authorities.”