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Mr. Evans: I take the hon. and learned Gentleman's intervention in the spirit in which it was given, but surely he knows that judges are suffering from mad judge disease when they say that people who are burgled should be prosecuted and the villains should not. How can judges be credible when they say that, if people do not take precautions and allow people to burgle their houses, they are the ones who should be prosecuted?

The Conservative party is the only party that realises that criminals must be punished, and punished according to the crime. There is no point slapping the wrist of a rapist or ticking off a cold-blooded killer. The public want justice, and it is up to the Government to deliver it. Despite opposition from soppy socialists, we have put more criminals behind bars and kept them there for longer. Why have we done that? Because prison works. One more scumbag behind bars is one less scumbag rampaging the streets. The figures speak for themselves. Recorded crime has fallen by 5 per cent. in the 12 months to June 1995. There has been the largest fall in recorded crime over a two-year period in 40 years, and the lowest level of crime for four years.

The Home Secretary has announced that he intends to build on that success by ending early release. We need to send the right signals to the criminals, and that message is: "If you commit a crime, you will serve your sentence in full." As the Home Secretary said at the party conference:


Common sense at last, and not a moment too soon.

Mr. Michael: I am following the hon. Gentleman's analysis of crime trends with interest. Will he tell us how the proportion of offenders being brought before the courts, which has reduced under the Conservative Government whom he praises, has helped in the fight against crime?

Mr. Evans: I shall come to that point later in my speech, if the hon. Gentleman will wait.

We need to think about the people on the front line who are there to fight crime--the police. They need us to back them all the way. I believe that we have done a pretty good job so far and given them the support that they deserve. Since 1979, the number of police officers has been increased by 16,000. Spending on the police has risen by 87 per cent. in real terms to £6.6 billion, and a police constable's salary has risen by 39 per cent. over and above inflation. We should not stop there, and we have not. John Major has promised an extra 5,000--

Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Janet Fookes): Order. I remind the hon. Gentleman of the convention that we do not use names. I think that the hon. Gentleman means the Prime Minister.

Mr. Evans: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Prime Minister has promised an extra 5,000 policemen over the next three years. We want this message to get to

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the criminals: under the Conservatives, there will be more and more policemen on the streets. That might make criminals think twice before they go on the rampage.

We have the promise of a new Crime Prevention Agency and 10,000 more closed circuit television cameras. Both are commendable measures, but we should not rest there. We are at last rolling the ball in the right direction, so now is the time to give it some momentum. We know what the public want, so let us start delivering. I have some suggestions that I would put on the law and order agenda. Let us tackle pathetic parents--those lazy parents who deny all responsibility for the behaviour of their offspring and blame the state for everything. They need to realise that if they cannot control their children, the state will fine them. If that does not work, we will put them behind bars with their children. That would give the family some quality time together to reflect on the values of responsibility and discipline.

I am sick and tired of hearing reports of schoolchildren bullying and manipulating pupils and teachers alike in the knowledge that the teacher cannot lay a finger on them. We need to re-establish discipline in the classroom and show pupils that the teacher is in charge of the class, not two or three hooligans. That means that we must allow teachers the commonsense flexibility to punish children in an appropriate manner. Some children need ticking off. Some need a clip around the ear. Some need a bloody good hiding. How about the reintroduction--

Madam Deputy Speaker: Order. I know that the hon. Gentleman feels strongly, but I ask him to moderate his language.

Mr. Evans: Some need a good hiding. How about the reintroduction of national service? Young people--both men and women--need to learn the values of discipline, team work and a deference to authority. I am not suggesting that everyone takes a military duty; in many cases it would be more useful for individuals to have more direct contact with the community, such as caring for the elderly or working with young children. Youngsters need to develop a sense of duty, and what better way is there to get that than by serving their nation for a year?

What about corporal punishment? We must face up to the fact that certain categories of criminal have a limited intelligence and can respond only to basic messages. Community service is a joke to that kind of person, and prison is a waste of time. The only way to get the message across is to revert to old-fashioned flogging. What better way is there to stop a rapist from reoffending than to castrate him, to take away his wedding gifts? I think that the Crown Prosecution Service should be scrapped forthwith and that the money saved should be spent on more police. Perhaps police should be paid a bonus for every successful prosecution.

Then we come to mad judge disease. Perhaps judges should be paid a percentage of the fines that they impose. They might then start to hand out sentences that fit the crime. Perhaps governors of prisons should get bonuses based on the number of unsolved crimes that they crack by intercepting prisoners' mail and listening to their conversations on the telephone and in cells.

Perhaps old-age pensioners should get a double Christmas bonus if they can prove that they shot a burglar in the past year, or defended their allotment. Perhaps child

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molesters should not be given protection in prison. Perhaps victims of violent crimes should be allowed to choose the punishment for the criminal. That might make criminals think twice. I want criminals to want to get out of prison--not to try to get into prison as they do now, especially when we have a cold spell.

What can we expect from Labour at the next general election? I am told that Labour Members are going to crack down on squeegee merchants--those pathetic individuals who wait at traffic queues to clean our car windscreens. I grant that they are a nuisance, but I doubt whether a crackdown on that rather irrelevant sector of the fringe of the criminal fraternity will make the electorate rest at ease.

I hear that the Labour Front-Bench team have been sent to management schools to develop their skills. What a joke that is. Perhaps they should take lessons in reality and listen to the needs of their constituents. One day, they might just come up with a half-decent idea.

Mark my words, crime will be the key issue at the next general election. The public want to feel secure, so they want a Government who will protect them. My constituents know the Conservative record on law and order, but what about Labour's? What will Labour Members be telling the public? I have a few questions to ask them. It is interesting to note how strong they are on crime and how many of them are here today to take part in this debate. Is not that an interesting insight into what they think about law and order? They could not get up the motorways to their constituencies quickly enough.

Come the next election, will Labour Members say that a member of the shadow Cabinet has called for the legalisation of cannabis? Will they tell the public that? Will they say that they opposed the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which strengthened police powers to stop and search suspects? Will they say that they opposed the Public Order Act 1986, which gave the police better powers to deal with street disorder?

Will Labour Members say that they opposed the Criminal Justice Act 1988, which raised the maximum sentence for serious crime? Will they say that they opposed the Criminal Justice Act 1991, which made parents more responsible for their children's actions? Will they say that they opposed the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993, which introduced tough new measures to crack down on bogus asylum seekers?

Will Labour Members say that they continue to oppose the annual renewal of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, as they have every year since 1983? Will they say that they oppose secure training orders for persistent young offenders? Will they be able to say that their home affairs team has consistently called for stiffer prison sentences? Will they say that they attempted to introduce amendments which would have made it more difficult for the courts to refuse bail?

On law and order, we have no competition. How many Labour Members are here this morning? We are the party of law and order and that is not in question. That, however, does not mean that we should rest on our laurels. If I were to prepare a school report on the performance of our Home Secretary over the past few months, it would read, "A flying start to the year, but plenty more to do. Keep it up. Do not slow down. Do not let the Home Office civil servants water down what you know to be right."

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My constituents want law and order. They know that the only party to turn to is the Conservative party. They are beginning to think that, at last, they have a Home Secretary who is strong enough to set up a framework to sweep crime off the streets and who will introduce measures that satisfy the victim and punish the villain. The people of Welwyn Hatfield are behind this Government. The Government have their trust and have built up their hopes. I urge the Government, please do not let them down.


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