LABOUR MELTDOWN AS POLICE SAY FLAGSHIP POLICY DOOMED TO FAIL
Labours credibility on justice has collapsed completely as their knife crime policy has been exposed as a sham. In a series of devastating attacks it is now clear there is no evidence behind Labours plans and their numbers are either made up, misquoted or based on what their justice spokesman read in the news.
Labours claim that knife crime costs the NHS £500 million was destroyed last night on Newsnight Scotland by independent statisticians who estimate it cannot cost more than £10 million. (1)
Medics Against Violence the organisation Labours Justice spokesman Baker claimed were behind the figure denied using the figure. (2 The Violence Reduction Unit which Labour then claimed backed up
their figure in fact gave a figure of between £258 and £517 for the cost of all violent crime to the NHS not just knife crime. (3) Labours credibility on justice has collapsed completely as their knife crime policy has been exposed as a sham. In a series of devastating attacks it is now clear there is no evidence behind Labours plans and their numbers are either made up, misquoted or based on what their justice spokesman read in the news.
Labours claim that knife crime costs the NHS £500 million was destroyed last night on Newsnight Scotland by independent statisticians who estimate it cannot cost more than £10 million. (1)
Medics Against Violence the organisation Labours Justice spokesman Baker claimed were behind the figure denied using the figure. (2) The Violence Reduction Unit which Labour then claimed backed up
their figure in fact gave a figure of between £258 and £517 for the cost of all violent crime to the NHS not just knife crime. (3) Most devastating of all, recent Parliamentary answers to Richard Baker show that he knows the cost of knife crime to the NHS is not available and that work on the cost of knife crime to society is still ongoing. (4) Claims knife crime costs £3 billion to society have also been
destroyed as a report from the VRU makes clear this is an estimated cost of all violent crime. (5)
The Scottish Police Federation is calling for action on alcohol to address the relationship between booze and blades and to cut the number of knife murders in the home where two-thirds of all knife crime takes place, saying mandatory sentencing is doomed to fail. (6) On the day all political leaders address the Scottish Police Federation conference, the General Secretary of the SPF said mandatory sentences were not going to solve the problem of people being murdered in their own home and that the real problem is you have a toxic mix of individuals who misuse and abuse alcohol, are prone to violence and have access to a kitchen knife.
Interviewed on Newsnight Scotland last night and Good Morning Scotland this morning, Labour’s Justice Spokesman admitted basing the numbers for knife crime costing on press reports.
Community Safety Minister and SNP Candidate for Inverness and Nairn Fergus Ewing said:
Labours policy on knife crime has descended into chaos and disarray.
Labour are not just making up policy they are making up the numbers.
Their knife crime policy is a deception. Labour are misleading voters and concerned communities across the country.
“Richard Baker has recent Parliamentary answers making it clear that no figures exist for the cost of knife crime to the NHS in Scotland – so he has resorted to making them up.
On this shambolic performance he isnt fit to be a shadow justice minister – never mind part of a government.
Knife crime and violence in our communities is far too important for Labours cheap political gestures. We must have evidence, we must do what works and we must work together to tackle this scourge in our society. That is what the SNP have been doing and that is why knife crime has fallen 30% over the last four years and sentences for knife crime increased.
The Scottish Police Federation and the Violence Reduction Unit are absolutely right to point to the policies that work. Mandatory sentencing for knife carrying will not stop knife crime in the home. We need action on alcohol , tough sentences for those who use knives and to continue the essential work of the No Knives Better Lives initiative, cashback for communities and the Violence Reduction Unit in tackling the root causes of knife crime.
Under the SNP knife crime has fallen 30%. There is more to do to tackle knife crime and we will continue to do what works with 1,000 more police on the streets and the re-introduction of minimum pricing legislation to tackle the alcohol problems that lie behind too much of the violence in Scottish society.”
Most devastating of all, recent Parliamentary answers to Richard Baker show that he knows the cost of knife crime to the NHS is not available and that work on the cost of knife crime to society is still
ongoing. (4) Claims knife crime costs £3 billion to society have also been destroyed as a report from the VRU makes clear this is an estimated cost of all violent crime. (5) The Scottish Police Federation is calling for action on alcohol to address the relationship between booze and blades and to cut the number of knife murders in the home where two-thirds of all knife crime takes place, saying mandatory sentencing is doomed to fail. (6) On the day all political leaders address the Scottish Police Federation conference, the General Secretary of the SPF said mandatory sentences were
not going to solve the problem of people being murdered in their own home and that the real problem is you have a toxic mix of individuals who misuse and abuse alcohol, are prone to violence and have access to a kitchen knife.
Interviewed on Newsnight Scotland last night and Good Morning Scotland this morning, Labour’s Justice Spokesman admitted basing the numbers for knife crime costing on press reports.
Community Safety Minister and SNP Candidate for Inverness and Nairn Fergus Ewing said:
Labours policy on knife crime has descended into chaos and disarray.
Labour are not just making up policy they are making up the numbers.
Their knife crime policy is a deception. Labour are misleading voters and concerned communities across the country.
“Richard Baker has recent Parliamentary answers making it clear that no figures exist for the cost of knife crime to the NHS in Scotland – so he has resorted to making them up.
On this shambolic performance he isnt fit to be a shadow justice minister – never mind part of a government.
Knife crime and violence in our communities is far too important for Labour’s cheap political gestures. We must have evidence, we must do what works and we must work together to tackle this scourge in our society.
That is what the SNP have been doing and that is why knife crime has fallen 30% over the last four years and sentences for knife crime increased.
The Scottish Police Federation and the Violence Reduction Unit are absolutely right to point to the policies that work. Mandatory sentencing for knife carrying will not stop knife crime in the home. We need action on alcohol , tough sentences for those who use knives and to continue the essential work of the No Knives Better Lives initiative, cashback for communities and the Violence Reduction Unit in tackling the root causes of knife crime.
Under the SNP knife crime has fallen 30%. There is more to do to tackle knife crime and we will continue to do what works with 1,000 more police on the streets and the re-introduction of minimum pricing legislation to tackle the alcohol problems that lie behind too much of the violence in Scottish society.”
