Nick Morrison pours fuel on the fire of the law and order debate

AS New Labour soundbites go, it was one of the more memorable: "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime."

At a time when fear of crime had never been higher, it managed to combine a steely-jawed determination not to let criminals get off lightly, with a hand-wringing commitment to tackle the social problems which drove people into crime.

But after five years in power, what has Labour achieved? Chief among its boasts was that crime was lower at the end of its first term of office than at the beginning - the first government in nearly half a century to be able to make this claim.

According to the British Crime Survey, overall crime is down by 22 per cent since Labour was elected, and the chance of becoming a victim of crime is at its lowest for 20 years.

But even its supporters recognise this is not an unalloyed success story.

Labour peer Lord MacKenzie of Framwellgate, a former Home Office advisor, said: "There is a public perception of rising crime, but it has fallen under this administration.

"Admittedly, it is rising in some areas, notably street crime, robbery and so on, which is down to specific reasons such as the theft of mobile phones, but overall the figures are down."

The Tories highlight this weakness in Labour's crime record, focusing on the 42 per cent rise in robbery over the past three years, and the increase in the use of cocaine and crack among 16 to 29-year-olds.

Although Labour had been embarrassed in the past by a fall in the number of police officers, the Government can also now point to record recruitment levels, with the 4,500 extra officers taken on in the past two years, the largest increase since 1981.

A manifesto commitment to reduce the time between arrest and sentence for young offenders has been met, falling from 142 days in 1997, to 69 days now.

Lord MacKenzie also points to the paedophile register and more partnerships between the police and other agencies as examples of Labour's success.

He said: "On the whole, the track record is satisfactory, but there is more to be achieved, not least reassuring the public, who obviously don't accept that crime is reducing."

The Tories point out that Labour has failed to reduce the re-conviction rates, and that a pledge to remove 30,000 failed asylum seekers this year has been abandoned.

And while the Government introduced anti-social behaviour orders, less than 500 have been imposed, compared with the expected 5,000 a year.

Norman Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, is scathing over Labour's record in office.

He said: "Since this Government came to power, it has promised so much and achieved so little in combating serious issues.

"Violent crime and the fear of crime is out of control. We have a nation who live in constant fear of being mugged, burgled or having their car stolen, knowing that the police can do little about it."

He said two out of three victims did not bother to report the crime, and the police detection rate was just 5.5 per cent. Whatever the Government's claims about the statistics, its record may rest as much on reducing fear of crime as on cutting crime itself.