Mark Garnier, Wyre Forest's Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, this week 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 1,613 violent attacks on people across Wyre Forest in the last year, a rise of 95% per cent in the last decade. Under the manifesto plans, a Conservative Government would:
- Give Wyre Forest 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
- Create fifteen new rape crisis centres across the country, and give all existing rape crisis centres stable, long-term funding.
- Grant Wyre Forest District Council new powers to fight booze-fuelled antisocial behaviour in Wyre Forest and stop supermarkets selling alcohol at below cost-price which is destroying law-abiding local pubs and fuelling low-level crime.
- Replace the invisible and unaccountable West Mercia Police Authority, making the police properly accountable to a directly elected person who will set priorities for local policing.
- 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.
- Make it clear that anyone caught carrying a knife in a public place can expect to be prosecuted and sent to prison.
Mark Garnier said: "Labour has launched endless initiatives and top-down schemes which have made little difference. The broken promises of this Government have undermined people's trust in politics and our public services. We can't go on with our local police filling in forms in the police station instead of fighting crime on the streets.
"IN Wyre Forest, we have an outstanding local police force and our hard-working local police officers deserve the highest praise. But many people across Wyre Forest are hugely frustrated with our criminal justice system. This is no criticism on our local police, but a criticism on how the Labour Government has let down our country as a whole. Local residents feel that the criminal justice system is just not on their side anymore. These major Conservative proposals will help put the law back on the side of local people in Wyre Forest and give our police the full support they so richly deserve."