Queens Speech in Parliament

Written by Vincent Cable MP and published in Informer on Tue 12th Nov 2002

The Queen's speech was full of new parliamentary Bills dealing with crime and anti social behaviour.

Every year the same happens. When it comes to 'talking the talk' about crime, the government has few equals.

Unfortunately reality is different. Yesterday I drove through Hampton where once again vandals have smashed the bus shelters in Oak Lane. I returned home to a vandalised bus shelter outside my front door.

Opposite is a wall of graffiti waiting,hopefully, to be cleaned by the council.

Few of the new gimmicks launched in parliament are any use. Child curfews and truancy penalties have never been used. There is only a handful of anti social behaviour orders. Social landlords, like RHP, cannot persuade courts to evict anti social tenants.

Fixed fines for petty crime (now proposed for dropping chewing gum) are rarely used by the police (though all motorists know they are aggressively used for parking and speeding).

My priorities are different. The first, is a strong, visible police presence. The long decline in police numbers is being reversed but there are still far too few officers on the streets. They must, of course, be paid for.

Second there has to be a shake up of the ramshackle bureaucracy of the criminal justice system. In the police, the courts and the Crown Prosecution Service computers and IT are often alien. There is very poor co-ordination. Getting criminals off the streets and through the courts currently requires inordinate time and paperwork.

Third, the right people need to be behind bars: violent offenders and villains who do not reform. However, the jails are currently full of drug addicts who need detoxification - for which facilities are hopelessly inadequate.

We need more action and less legislation.