Nick Clegg's New Year message about crime
Ahead of the Liberal Democrats' major campaign on crime in 2007, Shadow Home Secretary Nick Clegg sets the scene:
As Liberal Democrats, we should be proud of the way we have helped shape the public debate on law and order.
The idea behind Radio 4's Today programme 'Christmas Repeal Vote' closely mirrored the Freedom Bill which Ming Campbell launched in November.
We remain at the forefront of the campaign against the illiberal, unworkable and vastly expensive ID cards project. It is becoming increasingly clear that the British public are turning against this ill-conceived project. If you haven't already done so, please sign our petition against ID cards.
Similarly our campaign, against the continued inappropriate use of the DNA database, which has the DNA of thousands of innocent people stored on it, is gathering pace. A number of prominent journalists, such as Jasper Gerrard and Henry Porter in The Observer, are emphasising our message that this Labour government is in danger of turning Britain into a surveillance state.
In other areas too the public debate is moving in our direction. ASBOs are increasingly seen as at best a partial solution to the many causes of anti-social behaviour, with breach rates of nearly 50% and many young people now seeing ASBOs as badges of honour. Liberal Democrats have led the argument in favour of a range of other, more liberal, approaches to anti-social behaviour. Even the former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, admitted on Question Time that Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, pioneered by Liberal Democrats, are better than ASBOs.
Regrettably the New Year will probably see a renewed crisis in the prison service with over-crowding again hitting the headlines. The Liberal Democrats have adopted a very clear position on this - in contrast to both Labour and the Tories we believe that the government can't simply build its way out of the crisis. The seriously mentally ill and those with drug addiction problems do not belong in prison. Instead they must be kept out of harms ways, and treated, in specialised facilities. Anything less is a recipe for continued repeat crime - re-offending rates in Britain are now amongst the highest in the Western World. Similarly in many cases tough non-custodial sentences are a better option than jail.
Let us hope 2007 will bring some new and sensible thinking from the Home Office. In the meantime we will launch a New Year crime campaign - We Can Cut Crime - arguing for a more liberal and effective approach to crime. This will be an important opportunity for us to continue to make our mark in this vital area of public concern.