"Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" One of Tony Blairs most famous, and vacuous sound bites A raft of legislation, initiatives and the like were foisted upon us, as New Labour made to make Britain a safer place. but how were they going to do it? The jails were full. There was enough money for second homes, moat cleaning and porn flicks, but not enough to build prisons. A couple of weeks ago we had the appalling case of two French students murdered by a fellow who was supposed to be in jail. So what happened?
Nothing that's what. Week after week we hear cases of released felons re offending. Hell, some of them cannot even get locked up to be released.Take this example from my local paper. Five persistent thieves, who have been arrested a total of 100 plus times have been caught by the West Yorkshire constabulary. In the polices own words, they felt to be responsible for nicking goods worth thousands of pounds, and have had a devastating effect on the local economy. For their combined crimes, the have been banned form over 150 shops in and around the city centre of Bradford If they breach this banning order in the next two years, any of the five COULD be served with a full ASBO. They didn't even receive a fine. The fact that they were named and shamed in the local newspaper was considered more of a punishment. So these low lifers are free to catch a train or bus to continue there thieving in Keighley, Shipley, Leeds, Halifax and several other town centres in the region. That is if they can bothered with the travelling, as the threat of an ASBO is hardly the greatest of deterrents. It hardly sends out a message either. Unless you consider "Carry on Stealing" a worthy statement.
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