They think that any ongoing problems pertain to a tiny number of chronic offenders. Meanwhile, Left-leaning criminologists insist that conservatives’ fears that “soft” policing could drive up crime are prejudiced. Crackdowns are said to be “counterproductive”, alienating “disproportionately-targeted” minority groups.
Such framing overlooks the risk that unrecorded crime is quietly climbing, as law-breaking becomes such a regular occurrence that some victims don’t bother to report it. Other kinds are probably not being picked up properly by polling.
Even more worrying is the Leftist view that, if there is a specific issue with chronic offenders, it’s the consequence of too much law and order rather than too little. Keir Starmer’s prison guru, James Timpson, thinks Britain is “addicted” to sentencing. Sadiq Khan has backed “partial” cannabis decriminalisation, amid claims that policing the drug harms more than the substance itself.
|  | Sadiq Khan: Cannabis should not be criminalDecriminalise possession in small amounts to help police and ethnic minorities, urges mayor |
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The way in which the Left tries to romanticise these criminals is if anything becoming more strident – we are told that in the wake of austerity and Covid, certain law-breakers are, deep down, troubled souls. Shoplifters and fare dodgers who are allegedly “struggling with the cost of living” are the latest group to which any “compassionate” society should turn a blind eye, the Left insist.
This myth threatens to shake the foundations of our society by undermining the sacred principle that we are all equal under the law.
There is only so far we can fall down this rehabilitation rabbit hole before triggering a crime surge. Labour is adamant that the Michael Howard school of tough sentencing has failed. It has opted to release offenders early and ignore our rotting prison estate.
This is a terrible mistake. Even if prison isn’t working in the sense that it isn’t preventing ex-convicts from reoffending, policymakers should not use this as an excuse to avoid punishing those who break our laws. The answer to our failure to rehabilitate is not to allow criminals to escape punishment. In the most important sense, prison almost always “works” by preventing somebody who is locked up from stealing or assaulting other people.
| | Met chief: Starmer’s early release scheme will lead to more crimeUp to 43,000 prisoners could avoid prison every year in Labour’s sentencing shake-up |
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True, rehabilitation can sometimes work wonders. I have spoken with ex offenders who have been transformed by such programmes. One woman, Sonia, told me of how the support of one charity helped her evade the “revolving door back to prison”. But resource-intensive, bespoke rehabilitation is tricky to scale. In austere times, the temptation to roll out rehab on the cheap could prove overwhelming, and will end in failure.
As veteran probation expert Mark Leech told me: “There are prisoners that have done the courses so many times they could deliver them better than the tutors who deliver them.” Chasing a utopian ideal, with no idea how to make it work, let alone on a tight budget, is flirting with disaster.
Efforts by some criminologists to discredit the policing approach known as “broken windows” could also end badly. This concept, which clamps down on low-level crime such as graffiti and drug-taking on the basis that tolerating “minor” disorder leads to a culture that promotes much more serious crime, helped flatten a vicious crime wave in 1990s New York. It has been trashed in recent years, amid complaints it is racist and based on “bogus” evidence.
I disagree. Broken windows could once again be a vital weapon against certain serious crimes, such as sexual offences. Police officers on the front line certainly seem to think so: as Matthew Barber, PCC for Thames Valley, says: “You won’t find many hardened criminals who didn’t start doing things at a young age before getting steadily out of control. Fix those basics and you’ll prevent an awful lot more serious crime down the road.”
Though Labour politicians may be in denial, a slow-burning crisis is unfolding. There is a widespread sense of malaise, that law is breaking down. In Red Wall towns, Labour’s “levelling up” projects are being undermined by anti-social behaviour. In the cities, alarm at gang violence, as well as muggings and burglary, may yet nudge professionals to the Right. Labour’s inability to tackle crime could cost it dear.
| | Unless the law is enforced, a vigilante future beckonsIn many areas two-tier policing is no longer a conspiracy theory but an observable fact of life |
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DT.
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They think that any ongoing problems pertain to a tiny number of chronic offenders. Meanwhile, Left-leaning criminologists insist that conservatives’ fears that “soft” policing could drive up crime are prejudiced. Crackdowns are said to be “counterproductive”, alienating “disproportionately-targeted” minority groups.
Such framing overlooks the risk that unrecorded crime is quietly climbing, as law-breaking becomes such a regular occurrence that some victims don’t bother to report it. Other kinds are probably not being picked up properly by polling.
Even more worrying is the Leftist view that, if there is a specific issue with chronic offenders, it’s the consequence of too much law and order rather than too little. Keir Starmer’s prison guru, James Timpson, thinks Britain is “addicted” to sentencing. Sadiq Khan has backed “partial” cannabis decriminalisation, amid claims that policing the drug harms more than the substance itself.
Sadiq Khan: Cannabis should not be criminal
Decriminalise possession in small amounts to help police and ethnic minorities, urges mayor
The way in which the Left tries to romanticise these criminals is if anything becoming more strident – we are told that in the wake of austerity and Covid, certain law-breakers are, deep down, troubled souls. Shoplifters and fare dodgers who are allegedly “struggling with the cost of living” are the latest group to which any “compassionate” society should turn a blind eye, the Left insist.
This myth threatens to shake the foundations of our society by undermining the sacred principle that we are all equal under the law.
There is only so far we can fall down this rehabilitation rabbit hole before triggering a crime surge. Labour is adamant that the Michael Howard school of tough sentencing has failed. It has opted to release offenders early and ignore our rotting prison estate.
This is a terrible mistake. Even if prison isn’t working in the sense that it isn’t preventing ex-convicts from reoffending, policymakers should not use this as an excuse to avoid punishing those who break our laws. The answer to our failure to rehabilitate is not to allow criminals to escape punishment. In the most important sense, prison almost always “works” by preventing somebody who is locked up from stealing or assaulting other people.
Met chief: Starmer’s early release scheme will lead to more crime
Up to 43,000 prisoners could avoid prison every year in Labour’s sentencing shake-up
True, rehabilitation can sometimes work wonders. I have spoken with ex offenders who have been transformed by such programmes. One woman, Sonia, told me of how the support of one charity helped her evade the “revolving door back to prison”. But resource-intensive, bespoke rehabilitation is tricky to scale. In austere times, the temptation to roll out rehab on the cheap could prove overwhelming, and will end in failure.
As veteran probation expert Mark Leech told me: “There are prisoners that have done the courses so many times they could deliver them better than the tutors who deliver them.” Chasing a utopian ideal, with no idea how to make it work, let alone on a tight budget, is flirting with disaster.
Efforts by some criminologists to discredit the policing approach known as “broken windows” could also end badly. This concept, which clamps down on low-level crime such as graffiti and drug-taking on the basis that tolerating “minor” disorder leads to a culture that promotes much more serious crime, helped flatten a vicious crime wave in 1990s New York. It has been trashed in recent years, amid complaints it is racist and based on “bogus” evidence.
I disagree. Broken windows could once again be a vital weapon against certain serious crimes, such as sexual offences. Police officers on the front line certainly seem to think so: as Matthew Barber, PCC for Thames Valley, says: “You won’t find many hardened criminals who didn’t start doing things at a young age before getting steadily out of control. Fix those basics and you’ll prevent an awful lot more serious crime down the road.”
Though Labour politicians may be in denial, a slow-burning crisis is unfolding. There is a widespread sense of malaise, that law is breaking down. In Red Wall towns, Labour’s “levelling up” projects are being undermined by anti-social behaviour. In the cities, alarm at gang violence, as well as muggings and burglary, may yet nudge professionals to the Right. Labour’s inability to tackle crime could cost it dear.
Unless the law is enforced, a vigilante future beckons
In many areas two-tier policing is no longer a conspiracy theory but an observable fact of life