I am proposing a Westminster Street Recovery & Public Safety Plan centred on the creation of a 50-bed Recovery and Stabilisation Centre, a true Centre of Excellence for mental health stabilisation, drug recovery, and structured street transition.
We cannot allow bad law to leave victims, often young women, exposed. That is why I have tabled an amendment to the Bill that would include spiking by a reckless act.
We need a three-phase approach to tackle the problem: through effective prevention, tougher enforcement and sentencing, and rehabilitation. Now as an MP, I will be making the argument for this approach as effectively and persuasively as I possibly can, so no-one has to have the conversation I had to.
There is room for Kemi Badenoch to work constructively with the Government but offer true and radical alternatives to crime policies that might go down well in the senior common room but fail to impress the saloon bar.
The party’s overtures to NIMBYs, and Sir Keir Starmer’s liberal track record at the Criminal Prosecution Service, are inauspicious auguries for a law-and-order crackdown.
We created Operation Viper to tackle County Lines, and this has made over 200 arrests and closed 45 per cent of the County Lines in Dorset.
When I came into office, Anti-Social Behaviour was the top concern of many residents and had not been prioritised.
Facing decades behind bars, rather than a few short years, is a significant part of making it impossible for county lines to function.
Language matters, especially around an emotive and complex subject such as homelessness is. There is little forgiveness for imprecision, especially within the policy environment we have created by not articulating our own vision well enough.
We need to increase the treatment options for those with substance misuse issues in order to stop the offending from happening.
Sentences in the community can be just as punitive, provide a better opportunity for rehabilitation, and can reduce reoffending rates.
Not only would it be another shot in the arm to the burgeoning black market, but the real long-term pressures on the NHS arise from obesity and an ageing population.
Decriminalisation has been a disaster wherever it has been tried. The Government needs to start enforcing the law and ensure it serves as a proper deterrent.
By itself, the policy will likely save lives and take anti-social behaviour off the streets. But that is no basis for effectively legalising demand for drugs whilst leaving supply in criminal hands.
If the state can lavish record sums on welfare yet starve the justice system of funds, it is no wonder the foundations of law and order are crumbling.