Ex-policeman Paddick is the man to cut crime in London, says Tom Brake

23 April 2008

Tom Brake speaks for the Liberal Democrats during a debate on crime in London

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Home Affairs, Tom Brake, said that the Labour Government and Mayor had a poor record on cutting crime in London, and accused the Conservatives of having failed and offering little on crime and policing

Opening his speech, Tom Brake criticised Conservative London mayoral candidate Boris Johnson for failing to be present during the debate:

“This is definitely the debate that Londoners want us to have just one week ahead of the mayoral elections on 1 May. Like my hon. Friend the Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes), I am astounded to see that the one mayoral candidate who could be here to take part in this debate has not taken full advantage of the opportunity. I also wonder whether some of the more diligent Conservative Members of Parliament representing London, whom I see in the Chamber regularly, might not be feeling that the hon. Member for Henley (Mr. Johnson) is letting the side down very badly.”

On the fall in police numbers during the last Conservative Parliament, Mr Brake said:

“Hon. Members will remember that in the five years of the last Conservative Parliament, police numbers fell throughout the country as a whole and even more dramatically in London. Hon. Members will know that John Major specifically promised to increase police numbers by 5,000, yet police numbers fell. It is perfectly legitimate to remind ourselves of those facts when we consider the pledges, plans and promises put forward by the Conservative party. The lesson that we have all learnt is that they need to be taken with a huge pinch of salt.”

On the double footing of Ken Livingstone’s Labour position, Mr Brake said:

“Let me move on to the Labour Mayor’s position. The incumbent, Ken Livingstone, is keen to distance himself from the Government when appropriate, but at other times he is keen to make himself known as the Labour Mayor. We have to take the two together. I am happy to put on record the fact that the combination of the Government and the Mayor has enjoyed some successes, the biggest example of which is the safer neighbourhood teams. Like probably all hon. Members present, I have been round with the safer neighbourhood teams in a number of my wards and seen their impact on the ground. I can see that they are delivering the reassurance that people need and are beginning to eat seriously into crime levels.”

On the failure of previous pledges to increase the number of community support officers, Mr Brake said:

“I am afraid that I was about to come on to some failures. We had a pledge in 2005 to increase the number of community support officers to up to 24,000 - a pledge that has been reduced to 16,000, with a direct impact in London of a reduction from 6,400 to 5,600 such officers. Serious concerns were raised by Sir Norman Bettison of the Association of Chief Police Officers when he gave evidence to the Home Affairs Committee a couple of days ago. He spoke about a funding gap, particularly for tackling serious and organised crime.

“Members have referred to another significant problem - that of gun and knife crime. I take the Minister’s point and I am not going to say that it is all down to police numbers, but clearly the problem is increasing and it is particularly significant for young people, whether as perpetrators or victims. It may not all be due to police numbers, but it is a problem that needs to be resolved, whether by the Government, local authorities, communities or, indeed, individuals.”

On the upcoming mayoral elections, Mr Brake said:

“On 1 May, Londoners will choose whom they want to put in charge of the police, to cut crime and to tackle antisocial behaviour in our capital city. They could choose the hon. Member for Henley, who in his first six years in Parliament expressed no interest in London? The hon. Gentleman tabled one question about London in six years, but Londoners will not be taken in by that. He seems to have more experience of flouting the law than of imposing it. If anyone wants to challenge me on that point, I refer back to the leaflet that I mentioned earlier, which shows the hon. Gentleman riding his bike while making a mobile phone call.”

On Ken Livingstone’s failure to cut crime sufficiently, Mr Brake said:

“Then we have the Labour Mayor, who four years ago promised to cut crime by 50 per cent., but who, at the last count, had delivered only an 18.5 per cent. reduction in crime. Or we have the ex-policeman Liberal Democrat candidate, Brian Paddick, who has 30 years of experience in tackling crime, from the Brixton riots to cracking down on hard drugs dealers. Even Conservative and Labour Members will realise that the choice is a no-brainer. Brian Paddick has the serious solutions for London and that is who people will vote for on 1 May.”

The Conservative motion was defeated, with 193 voting for and 308 voting against
The Liberal Democrats voted in favour of the motion
Click here to read Tom Brake's speech in full

Applicability: this item refers to England. Due to devolution, detailed policy may be different in other areas of the UK.