Reform will be ‘toughest' party on crime ever, Farage to say
The Reform leader is expected to use a speech in London to vow to cut crime in half, declaring his party to be 'the toughest party on law and order this country has ever seen', according to The Daily Telegraph.
Among his promises will be a pledge to recruit 30,000 new police officers; end early release for prisoners convicted of serious violent, sexual or knife offences; and deport 10,400 foreign offenders currently in British jails.
He will also propose a major prison-building programme aiming to provide an extra 30,000 places to alleviate the prison overcrowding that prompted the Government to expand early release schemes.
Mr Farage will say: 'We will cut crime in half. We will take back control of our streets, we will take back control of our courts and prisons.'
But he will face questions over how he will achieve this, given his already significant spending promises and the need to negotiate returns agreements for foreign offenders.
His speech comes amid rising concern about crime in Britain, with The Sun On Sunday reporting that a recent Survation poll found 49% of people thought the UK was 'becoming a lawless country'.
Overall, crime has generally fallen over the past decade, but rose last year driven mainly by sharp increases in fraud and theft.
Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, said: 'If Nigel Farage was serious about making our streets safer, he should have backed the tough new laws we introduced earlier this year.
'It's shameful that Reform constantly seeks to undermine confidence in our police and criminal justice system and voted to try to block measures to crack down on knife crime, anti-social behaviour, shop theft, child sexual abuse, and long overdue action to tackle the scourge of violence against women and girls.
'They should focus more on practical solutions to support our police, combat crime, deliver justice for victims of crime, rather than chasing headlines, spouting slogans and trying to divide communities.'
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