Comments on: Parliament boosts crime figures

By: Chris Paul

Chris Paul — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:24:04 +0000

This is not wrong. But numbers of crimes recorded has also been put up by CCTV systems - where incidents are logged as crimes with very little chance of clear up - and also the greater number of bobbies and PCSOs - more access, more reports by a larger factor than clear ups increase.

Postscript: *hug* you’ve had a couple of bad days as a party …

By: Steven_L

Steven_L — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:09:49 +0000

A lot of these ‘new’ crimes are dictated by the EU. Other EU nations just nod their heads, transpose directives, then put them on a shelf and forget about them. The only time we seem to turn a blind eye to EU rules is when Brits go there, quite legally, to buy fags and booze.

With ‘no win no fee’ hawks and ambulance chasers civil redress can also cause problems, especially for small businesses.

Prosecution of offences is a very British thing to do, all governments have transposed EU requirements into our law as criminal offences. Many EU laws are just petty and not worth enforcing. Mind you because the EU makes so many of our laws now Parliament seems almost stuck for something to do. As a result we get a raft of dodgy laws. New Labour’s laws are even worse than the EU’s if you ask me.

For example now, if I go down to the pub tonight, then go outside to smoke (as I now must), but it’s raining so I stand under a covered alleyway to shelter, technically I am smoking in a ’substanially enclosed public place’ and become a criminal.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:46:35 +0000

Excellent piece.

I was not previously aware you were in the anti-drug-prohibition camp - is that now Conservative party policy? It would certainly take a chunk out of the crime figures.

Reply:No it is not Conservative policy to legalise drugs.

By: Peter Turner

Peter Turner — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:15:40 +0000

I have always believed that simplification is a policy well worth following. The more complex a system the less efficiently it functions. This surely applies in the Criminal Justice system. There is a need to go back to basics in many areas and to rethink what our laws are there for. This will be a massive task but it is one that the Conservatives should not shirk. It needs doing. If I may be so bold to suggest, such a task would well suit your logical approach.