With the coalition vulnerable, Labour could re-establish its authority on law and order

By David Pinto-Duschinsky

While the economy has dominated the public discourse, law and order has all but slipped off the political agenda. This is odd. Crime remains among the public’s key concerns, with around a fifth of respondents consistently naming it as the top political issue. Despite enjoying a poll lead on the issue, David Cameron has only recently begun to venture into the territory, with a handful of policy announcements, each more inconsequential than the next.

Three reasons may lie at the root of the government’s reticence. First, the figures are heading in the wrong direction. After years of steady improvement, crime levels have begun to show signs of deteriorating. Last summer’s riots have helped fuel public perceptions that the problem is getting worse, with 60 per cent of people believing crime is rising nationally. Meanwhile, police numbers are falling. Recent revelations that over 5,000 first responder posts have been cut are just the tip of the iceberg. The Inspectorate of Constabulary predicts that police numbers will fall by over 16,000 by the end of this parliament, with even deeper cuts among civilian staff.

Second, the Tories lack a compelling offer or even coherent narrative on the home affairs issues the public care about most: the most striking thing about the their crime and antisocial behaviour policy is its almost complete absence. Seventy-one per cent of people in a recent survey named antisocial behaviour as the country’s most pressing crime problem, yet the government’s response is limited to a few pilots and a minimum price for alcohol, while its troubled families fund remains mired in the Whitehall machinery. It looks to its one and only substantive policy idea, that of elected police commissioners, as a cure-all remedy for every law and order issue.

Moreover, they also face a third problem, one of politics and perception. Cameron’s positioning on law and order has been a casualty of his attempt to rebrand his party in a more liberal image: the jibe that he is soft on crime and would ‘hug a hoodie’ has stuck. Only 13 per cent of the electorate think the current government is tougher on crime than the previous one. The internal politics of the coalition may also limit his room to manoeuvre: the Liberal Democrats may well resist anything that smacks of a toughening of the government’s stance.

All of this suggests an opportunity for Labour. Yvette Cooper’s Commission on Policing is a good first step. But more can be done. While it makes sense to wait until nearer the general election before laying out its full offer, Labour should nonetheless seize the chance to shape the home affairs agenda by laying out a few concrete policy ideas that will address the public’s key crime concerns directly. For instance, the party could explore new powers on disruptive families or consider new targeted crime campaigns, like the ones the last government rolled out on street crime and alcohol misuse to great effect. Costs would be minimal and could be covered by savings gained through abandoning the Conservatives’ unnecessary top-down reorganisations of the border and national-level crime agencies.

None of this will be without its challenges. Labour starts between seven and 17 points behind on crime depending on which poll you look at. In the short term, the party still needs to articulate a clear strategy for contesting the forthcoming elections for police commissioners. Labour will also need to decide what its law and order priorities are and how to fund them. Most importantly, the party will need to be willing to take a tough stance on some totemic law and order issues.

This may be uncomfortable for some. But it will help Labour not only take the initiative on home affairs but build our broader positioning as a party on the side of those who are responsible and contribute, complementing Ed Miliband’s clear stance on responsible capitalism.

Most importantly, it would be the progressive thing to do. It is the least well off who suffer disproportionately when crime blights communities. People from the most disadvantaged communities are 80 per cent more likely to be the victims of violent crime than those from the wealthiest. Most people did not join the party to talk about crime, but doing so may not only help advance Labour’s cause: it may also help us address an important aspect of inequality and disadvantage.

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Photo: Metropolitan Police