A lament here I am afraid.  In the period 1997 to 2001 the government had a unique opportunity to dramatically reduce crime.  Criminals had been robbed of two excuses for crime.  Firstly, the resounding general election result of 1997 demonstrated that democracy in Britain was alive and well.  It demonstrated that an unpopular government without support among marginalised groups will be removed from power, eventually.   People really had a voice within our democratic institutions.

Secondly, the economy was performing well with grounds for optimism about future prosperity.

In my opinion these two conditions gave the government a unique opportunity to substantially reduce crime.  Not only by increasing sentences for serious crime, or by giving the police new powers, or by building new prison spaces but also by forcefully putting the ethical case against crime.  By turning communities and families against the criminals within their midst.  You know, there's barely a single criminal in this country who doesn't have friends, relatives and neighbours who are tacitly supporting their criminal activity.  This means that moral and ethical pressure from friends, relatives and communities can be used to reduce criminal behaviour before the stage at which the police and justice system need to get involved. 

See www.world2rights.com for our policy proposals.