Where do I stand? Crime.
This is the third in my series of posts setting out my personal political
positions. If you're going to be voting in the UKIP leadership election, you
deserve to know what I believe.
My dad was a Chairman of Magistrates; before him, my grandfather was a
policeman. I've always understood the need for law and order, and let's be blunt
here. It's the working classes who suffer the most as victims of crime. If you
look at any crime map you'll see that link for yourself. Perhaps that's why the Labour
'Islington elite' don't seem to recognise how real the problem of crime is: it
doesn't affect them to the extent that it impacts on their
constituents.
UKIP has to be the Party
which will stand for a no-nonsense, tough approach to crime. I'm all for
rehabilitation, but it works best as part of a 'carrot and stick' approach: the
carrot is much more appealing if the alternative is the
stick.
Not enough space in British
prisons? Answer: build more prisons.
On a really personal level I'm
sick of the number of people committing horrific crimes against animals and
escaping jail. Those who torture defenceless animals to death (just how depraved
do you have to be to video yourself doing something like that?) should be
jailed. Part of the problem is that the maximum sentences are woefully low. The
law needs changing.
Criminals often have records of
dozens of offences, sometimes even a hundred or more, before they are ever sent
to jail. They're already hardened criminals before they go to prison, so what do
we expect is going to happen when they're finally jailed? If we intervene
earlier, with a short but tough prison sentence at a much earlier stage - and
then provide the rehabilitation and support that's needed - criminals will know
that a life of crime isn't in their best
interests.
