Smith dubs Tories the party of high crime

THE Labour leader, John Smith, yesterday accused the Government - 'the worst Britain has had this century' - of contributing to the growth of crime. He attacked the 'failure, incompetence, waste and dishonesty' of the Tory party, which he said faced disaster in the local government elections.

Mr Smith told a meeting at the Royal Festival Hall in London: 'I am heartily sick of listening to this government talking tough about crime while taking no effective measures to reduce it. They are the high-crime party - and no tough talking by the Prime Minister or any of his colleagues will alter that fact.'

Mr Smith said it was bad enough that the Government had no strategy to tackle crime. 'What is worse is that its own actions are contributing to the growth of crime in our communities. While talking tough about crime, the Government is dismantling the very programmes which help to prevent it.'

He said: 'People are losing faith in the criminal justice system. It is a scandal that while more and more crimes are being committed, the number of cases coming to court is falling and many courts are actually lying empty because the system itself is in chaos.

'Fewer cases ever get to court, more cases are being discontinued or downgraded, and delays and paperwork are clogging up the system. Victms of crime suffer twice over when they see justice failing them in this way. We must restore the public's confidence by putting the interest and concerns of the victims at the heart of our justice system.'

Mr Smith added: 'It is time to devote ourselves single-mindedly to a full-scale attack on crime. That means tough action on crime and on the causes of crime. . . . Nobody should seek excuses for criminal behaviour. But nobody should deny that poverty, deprivation, neglect and squalor provide fertile soil for crime to flourish. There is now too much evidence linking crime to these other factors to ignore the connection.'

Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, dismissed Mr Smith's speech as 'a smoke- screen to try to hide the fact that Labour is refusing to support the Government's Criminal Justice Bill in Parliament'. That was despite backing for the Bill from the Police Federation, which said it was a valuable aid to fighting crime.

Mr Howard defended his record in tackling crime, pointing out that house burglaries in London had fallen by 18 per cent in the last quarter of last year. He said the Government was determined to put together a comprehensive crime-prevention strategy, including giving courts the power they needed to deal with criminals.

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