A year ago in the Purple Book, Jenny Chapman and I argued that Labour’s approach to crime and justice should be built around victims and communities. Furthermore, when the victims’ commissioner appointed by the Labour government, Louise Casey, went off to do another job within government last year, I called on the government to appoint another commissioner as quickly as possible to demonstrate their commitment.

Last week saw an interesting contrast between Tory and Labour approaches. Chris Grayling made his first public statements since taking over from Ken Clarke as justice secretary. He chose to focus on prisons and prisoners. He told the Sun that he’d be a ‘tough guy’ on crime with plenty of rehashed rhetoric about prisoners not being allowed to watch TV in their cells, but nothing about victims. The Ministry of Justice webpage devoted to the victims’ commissioner has not been updated since March 2011 when they announced a review into the role of the victims’ commissioner. This review has not yet seen the light of day. There is no separate tab for victims on the page and there appears to have been no substantive work on supporting victims since this government came to office. Come on Chris – the really tough thing to do in the criminal justice system is to put victims before prisoners and professionals.

Meanwhile, in Labour-controlled Birmingham, the newly elected council has made a priority of supporting victims. Labour leader Albert Bore has appointed Cllr Jess Phillips as the victims’ champion, last week they held a victims roundtable and launched a two month consultation on how services can be improved. Labour candidates for the police and crime commissioner elections are making a priority of talking to victims and their organisations. They are pledging to be a voice for victims and communities. Despite my misgivings about the policy of police and crime commissioners, this would be a real step change. Police authorities have too often focused on the finance and the bureaucracy rather than the impact of policing on communities and victims. There is a real opportunity for Labour councils and Labour PCCs to begin developing the approach and the policies which can form the centrepiece of a Labour crime manifesto for the next general election.

As I argued last year, focusing on victims is not only the compassionate thing to do, it’s also the effective way to bring more people to justice and to bring down crime. Beyond the immediate physical, emotional and financial impact of being a victim of crime, many victims say that they feel powerless and frustrated by their experience not just of the crime, but of the system itself. Those likely to be worst affected by crime are already those with the least financial or social clout. They need a louder voice, not to be ignored.

Furthermore, Home Office research suggests that four-fifths of all directly detected offences had victims or witnesses able to provide helpful leads. Police cannot tackle crime alone and they certainly cannot achieve convictions without support from victims and people willing to act as witnesses.

Talking tough is no substitute for doing the right thing. When it comes to victims and witnesses within the criminal justice system, the contrast between Tory talk and Labour action couldn’t be more stark.

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Jacqui Smith is former home secretary, writes the Monday Politics column for Progress, and tweets @smithjj62

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Photo: Gary Knight