Prospective Conservative Member of Parliament for South Basildon & East Thurrock Stephen Metcalfe, strongly endorsed radical and bold new plans set out in the Conservatives’ draft election manifesto to tackle crime and to restore confidence in Britain’s ‘broken’ criminal justice system.
Their importance is underlined by new analysis revealing that there were 2508 violent attacks on people across Basildon up 74% on ten years ago and a total of 2209 violent attacks in Thurrock, a rise of 113% per cent in the last decade. Under the manifesto plans, a Conservative Government would:
1. Give Basildon & Thurrock’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.
2. Create fifteen new rape crisis centres across the country, and give all existing rape crisis centres stable, long-term funding.
3. Grant Basildon & Thurrock Councils new powers to fight booze-fuelled antisocial behaviour and stop supermarkets selling alcohol at below cost-price which is destroying law-abiding local pubs and fuelling low-level crime.
4. Replace the Essex Police Authority, making the police properly accountable to a directly elected person who will set priorities for local policing.
5. 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.
6. Make it clear that anyone caught carrying a knife in a public place can expect to be prosecuted and sent to prison.
Stephen said:
“Labour have launched endless initiatives and top-down schemes which have made little difference. Their broken promises have undermined people’s trust. We can’t go on with the police filling in forms instead of fighting crime.
“Our hard-working local police officers deserve the highest praise. But many people across Basildon & Thurrock are hugely frustrated with our criminal justice system. They feel that it’s just not on their side anymore. These major Conservative proposals will help put the law back on the side of local people in South Essex and give our police the full support they so richly deserve.
“I have therefore arranged to meet our local Senior Police Officer in the near future and will be discussing these proposal with them, I will also be looking at how we can work together to make Basildon & Thurrock safer for us all.”
These all sound very good and reasonable suggestions but that is it, they are only suggestions, what makes us believe that these would ever come to fruition, when New Labour came to power we had their local politicians stating they would be tough on crime, tough on education, better health services, and after a decade we are still no better than before, indeed in some respects things are worse.
What we need is a political party that will stand up for the people and actualy do what they say they are going to do rather than soundbites to win votes.