Labour will crack down on anti-social behaviour – Click here to complete our crime survey and tell us about your experiences.

The Labour Party is campaigning across the district for safer communities, with pledges to crack down on anti-social behaviour and end violence against women and girls.

While the Tories talk tough, their record shows they are the party of crime and disorder. They cut our police to the lowest level in a generation and cut funding for services that prevent crime from happening.

Latest research shows that police in England and Wales are still faced with a £1.6bn shortfall in funding under the Conservatives, and that between 2010 and 2020 we’ve lost thousands of officers from the frontline.

These decisions helped cause a surge in antisocial behaviour, leaving people afraid in their own communities. Drug use has risen and criminal gangs are exploiting kids to send drugs around the country. And there is huge concern about violent crime.

Latest figures show that this year alone police recorded over 2 million incidents of antisocial behaviour – the highest in seven years. Even then this is still a fraction of the estimated 13.6 million adults who have witnessed or experienced antisocial behaviour during that same time. This includes incidents of people using and dealing drugs, fly-tipping, vandalism and threatening behaviour.

It shouldn’t be like this – and it doesn’t have to be.

Labour would do things differently and prioritise makes our streets safer.

First, we’d redirect over £280 million that has been earmarked for the Prime Minister’s new government yacht and spend it in areas like Stratford to tackle anti-social behaviour. The additional funding could be used for surge funding for police officers and PCSOs, for helping councils fund enforcement or to pay for additional CCTV.

Second, we’d strengthen legal protections for victims of anti-social behaviour to give victims of persistent, unresolved anti-social behaviour the same rights that the Labour Party is proposing to enshrine for victims of crime.

Third, we’d work to end violence against women and girls. We’ve already set out a set of proposals to tackle this epidemic, including increasing sentences for rape and stalking, reviewing sentencing for all domestic abuse, and better support for victims of rape and sexual violence – delivering where the Conservatives have failed to step up.

In addition, we’d also put more police on the beat in our communities and we’d ensure provision of youth clubs and treatment services.

Before becoming leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer was the most senior prosecutor in the country. It was his job to get criminals off the streets and give victims the justice they deserve.  That’s the job of the Prime Minister, too, and Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, will act where Boris Johnson has failed.