Restoring respect with zero tolerance for anti-social behaviour

Our town centres are the heart of our communities. At their best they bring people together and create a sense of pride and belonging. When anti-social behaviour, theft and shop lifting are allowed to take root it does not just affect the victims. It affects the whole community. All too often the last Government wrote these crimes off as low level and left our communities feeling powerless.

I am proud that this Labour Government is taking a very different approach. Our Police and Crime Bill will give the police and communities the power to take back control of our streets and town centres.

The Bill will protect retail workers and business owners who have to deal with shoplifting day-in day-out. the last Government effectively decriminalised shoplifting of goods below £200. This Government will end the Tory shoplifters’ charter and go further by introducing a new criminal offence to better protect retail workers from assault. 

For too long anti-social behaviour has been allowed to blight our communities. Recently Derbyshire Police had to have a dispersal order in place for two whole days in Glossop to tackle anti-social behaviour. Through new Respect Orders we will send a clear message to the persistent troublemakers: we see you and we are going to disrupt you and make your life just as difficult as you have made the lives of others.

The national inquiry into child sex abuse was set up by the Conservatives in 2015. It took seven years to complete and cost £200 million. It made twenty recommendations. Shamefully the last Government did not implement a single one of them. Not one.

This Bill rights that wrong by: introducing statutory reporting of instances of child sexual abuse; making grooming behaviour an aggravating factor in criminal offences; and banning AI models that produce child sexual abuse material.

For International Women’s Day I held a joint event with Crossroads Derbyshire, who do incredible work with domestic abuse survivors. Crossroads have a new stalking advocacy service funded by the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner’s office. This Bill will strengthen the police response to stalking and give its victims the right to know the identity of online stalkers. Our message to stalkers is clear: there will be no hiding place for you on our streets or online.