THE Government once said it would be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”.

However, the reality of life under Labour is very different. Police officers now spend 50 per cent more time on paperwork than they do out on patrol.

We can’t go on like this.

Conservatives really will be tough on crime. We will scrap the early release scheme (recently Labour have announced similar plans – nothing to do with the coming General Election, I am sure) and increase prison capacity, using money confiscated from criminals to deliver up to 15 new crisis centres for rape victims.

We will tell the police to publish detailed local crime data, hold regular neighbourhood beat meetings, give them the power to identify offenders in your local area and cut the paperwork they have to deal with.

But fighting crime is about more than catching criminals.

Nearly half of all violent incidents are alcohol-related. So we have promised to give local councils and the police much stronger powers over licensing, including broader powers to take licences away from problem premises. And a new Border Police Force will help to stem the flow of drugs into the country.

Under the Conservatives our community can be a safer place.

James Wharton, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Stockton South