TOUGH... BUT NOT CLEVER

REMEMBER "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime"? Tony Blair's
original New Labour soundbite is in need of updating. These days
politicians of every hue attempt to prove themselves tougher on crime than
their opponents, thinking up ever more ingenious means of incarcerating an
even greater part of the population. The causes of crime have been all but
forgotten.

It should be a matter of shame, not pride, that Britain jails a
proportionately greater number of its citizens than any other country in
the European Union. Instead, Labour and the Conservatives have forged a new
national consensus: we need more prisons and more prisoners.

Nor is this narcissistic preening ("see my toughness, feel how prison
works") confined to England and Wales. In Scotland, too, the Executive and
opposition parties alike are clamouring for "something to be done" about crime.

Youth crime is today's fetish of choice. As a result there are serious
proposals to make bad parenting a criminal offence, while teenagers will be
banned from walking the streets after dark. Add to this the proposal to
create a new A* classification for crack cocaine (which will do little to
deter the dealers and nothing to help addicts) and it is clear that Labour
cannot see far beyond the next opinion poll. A tough stance on crime should
not be at the expense of innocent people losing their long-treasured liberties.

Remembering that economic deprivation and drug abuse are the biggest causes
of crime, a mature, sensible debate on how best to alleviate both
conditions would be more responsible and better leadership. Imprisoning
persistent criminals can only be part of the solution; improving life on
Britain's sink estates is necessary, too.