I naively thought 'Here is a labourite who actually gets it; understands the reality.' - I am rarely that wrong - and it all goes to prove that we must be extremely cautious with first impressions.
When he uttered his now infamous 'Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime' platitude my interest was piqued and I dared to wonder.
However, it was his regime which introduced the absurd ASBO which anybody could see from day one was utterly unworkable. (For me - the penny dropped on my first day of magistrate training on ASBOs when I predicted that the promised 'guaranteed jail for breaches' was mere hot air.
(Last figures I saw - 94% of offenders in breach are NOT incarcerated!)
Moreover, it was his 'poodle' Blunkett who, as Home Secretary, oversaw a reduction of sentencing via guidelines. (Imagine a disqualified driver found at the wheel having to wait to be caught two or three times before even facing the danger of being locked up!)
So. Tony was just one more liberal fraud in a long line of such as the country switched between Labour and Conservative on a regular basis - although you had to admit that the tories tended to sound more plausible whilst presiding over social decay and surrendering the streets every bit as willingly as Labour's hot-wired do-gooders.
(Of course, 'Dave' put Ken Clark in charge until proving so dreadful he had to go. Then he replaces him with a heavily shackled Chris Grayling who is yet to realise perhaps, that he will not be allowed to do a proper job!)
Add the appalling Lib Dems to the mix and we have a trio of parties which are simply not prepared to tackle any social misbehaviour other than in those matters which are their own, personal sacred cows.
