Kennedy: Getting tough on crime

Charles Kennedy has attacked Labour's "piecemeal, knee-jerk, headline chasing" approach to crime and pledged tougher action to tackle the underlying causes of anti-social behaviour.

The Liberal Democrat leader outlined his party's new 2tough liberalism" approach to crime in a keynote speech on Monday.

He said that anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs), heralded by ministers as a key tool in the war on yobs, should be accompanied by action to tackle the underlying causes of community problems.

With crime set to be a key battleground in the run up to the next general election, Kennedy is keen to ensure his party has a distinctive message on the issue.

The Lib Dem chief said Labour had failed to live up to its "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" rhetoric.

"The reality is that the government has been tough on rhetoric, but weak on solutions," he said.

"Its approach is piecemeal, knee-jerk, headline chasing, focusing on the symptoms - the criminals - at the expense of sound policies aimed at tackling the disease - crime itself.

"This has made Labour particularly ineffective at making good on the second part of that sound bite - tough on the causes of crime."

ASBO Plus

As part of his party's new approach, Kennedy set out plans for an "ASBO Plus" scheme.

It would see ASBOs only issued "in conjunction with action to tackle the underlying causes" of the crime they were seeking to prevent.

"Anti-social behaviour orders have been successful in many communities in providing short-term relief," said Kennedy.

"But unless there is also a strategy for changing the behaviour of offenders, we either push the problem behind closed doors, or shunt it from one community to another."

Citing examples of the kind of action favoured by his party, Kennedy said that youth workers could divert young yobs into positive activities, while drug workers would tackle substance misuse.

And education and training would be provided for those who are excluded from school or unemployed.

Soft on crime

Kennedy said the policy would end the "myth" put forward by opponents that the Lib Dems are "soft on crime".

"By attempting to paint solutions designed to tackle the roots of criminality as 'soft' - as they did consistently in Leicester, Birmingham and Hartlepool - Labour seeks to deflect the real debate about how to deal with crime, security, law and order," he said.

"The Conservative Party and some of the tabloids have long been adept at this. And moral outrage is always a powerful political tool."

But Kennedy warned that "creating a climate of fear" could cause the public to lose sight of the "real facts" about crime.

"Labour’s crime has been to resort to the quick fix, with no long-term strategy to bring local communities into the process so that people can be part of the solution rather than powerless victims," he said.

"And as I have set out today, the real liberal approach to law and order issues can be tough - very tough - without descending into populist illiberalism."