Labour’s broken promises lead

to increase in violent attacks

JANUARY 16, 2010

John, the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Carlisle, has obtained from his party’s Central Office statistics which show how violence has escalated since 1999.

He says it is a direct result of Government policies which see our police officers spending too much time filling in forms and not enough fighting crime.

In Carlisle there were 2,007 violent attacks on people last year – that’s more than five a day and 884 more than the equivalent figure for 1999.

Equivalent figures for the rest of Cumbria are no more encouraging.

In Copeland last year there were 974 assaults (a rise of  75 per cent) and in Allerdale there were 1,368 (72 per cent). In South Lakeland there were 901, a 48 per cent increase.

The only areas in which the number actually fell were Barrow-in-Furness (a seven per cent drop to 1,468 attacks) and Eden (down 17 per cent to 395).

“Our hard-working local police officers deserve the highest praise,” John says.

“But many people across Carlisle are hugely frustrated with our criminal justice system. They feel that it’s just not on their side anymore. We can’t go on with the police filling in forms instead of fighting crime.

“Labour have launched endless initiatives and top-down schemes which have made little difference. Their broken promises have undermined people’s trust.”

John has endorsed radical and bold new plans – set out in the Conservatives’ draft election manifesto – to tackle crime and to restore confidence in what he describes as “Britain’s broken criminal justice system”.

The plans would

·          Give Carlisle’s citizens greater protection if they have to defend themselves against intruders in their homes, or if they stop a crime being committed in the street.

·          Create 15 new rape crisis centres across the country, and give all existing rape crisis centres stable, long-term funding.

·          Grant Carlisle City Council new powers to fight booze-fuelled antisocial behaviour in the city, and stop supermarkets destroying law-abiding local pubs and fuelling low-level crime by selling alcohol at below cost-price.

·          Replace the invisible and unaccountable Cumbria Police Authority, making the police properly accountable to a directly elected Commissioner who would set priorities for local policing.

·          Publish detailed street-by-street crime statistics online every month, in an open and standardised format, so people know the real level of crime in their neighbourhood.

·          Make it clear that anyone caught carrying a knife in a public place can expect to be prosecuted and sent to prison.

“These major Conservative proposals will help put the law back on the side of local people in Carlisle and give our police the full support they so richly deserve,” John says.

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