Chris Grayling’s first major speech this week as Shadow Home Secretary has largely been written up as the latest blueprint of powers for ‘cracking down’ on hoodies.
But there’s another issue at stake here: a future Conservative Government will likely inherit a public purse that’s pretty much empty which means Grayling will have responsibility to spend taxpayers’ money in areas that will achieve the most effective reductions in crime.
In his speech, Grayling referred to stopping people getting on to the ‘conveyor belt’ of crime. This goes to the heart of failure of Labour’s crime and justice policy. He also said “tackling the causes of crime was a key part of my last job. If I am Home Secretary after the next election, my job is very simple – to be tough on crime”. Which is of course welcome news – so long as someone at the heart of any future Conservative government is focussed on coordinating the fight to cut crime.
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