Brian Dash told the Conference in Oxford that he is “Fed up with hearing accusations that the Liberal Democrats are soft on crime. That’s absolute nonsense!”  He went on to say “It isn’t about hard or soft.  It’s about effective or ineffective.  I’ll take no lessons from the Tories who presided over a continuous increase in violent crimebetween1979 and 1997 of 168%.  Labour, despite frantic legislation and record prison population have a rise in violent and gun crime so they can’t talk either!.”

Brian explained that Liberal Democrats have tough policies to address re-offending.  Well over half the prisoners re-offend within 2 years of release.  Half of our prisoners have a reading age of 11, innumeracy and writing is even worse.  Liberal Democrats will require those prisoners to attend classes to achieve a level of education which might just enable them to earn an honest living. 

Addressing the issue of antisocial behaviour and vandalism Brian told the conference,”I get really angry when I see a pensioner’s fence or wall damaged because I know they will struggle to pay for a repair. I think that the vandals, when caught should be made either to repair it or to pay for the repair.”