There's one four letter word on many people's lips - cuts. We should reduce the deficit but over time and in a way that minimises misery.
The current government is going about it in a way that will do lasting harm whilst letting the main culprits off the hook. The bankers caused the crash but are getting off almost scot free.
So far much of this talk about cuts seems abstract and removed from our lives. My fear is that this will soon change and we will see the effects in almost every area of our lives. I shall be looking at these as time goes by but this week want to focus on crime.
Representatives of the police and probation officers have given me a chilling briefing. They say that cutting probation, prisons the police and the courts by 25% will hamper the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system.
Between 1995 and 2009 recorded crimes fell from 19 to 10 million but this is endangered by gung-ho cuts. The police will be less visible and less responsive. The good work done by police community support officers and neighbourhood policing will be reversed.
There will be fewer prosecutions. Court closures mean longer travel, adjournments and delay and increasing amounts of time spent on remand awaiting trial. Cuts to probation mean fewer people supervised and a bigger short-term prison population.
The criminal justice system will grind to a halt. Insurance claims will increase markedly. Stress caused by further crime will impact on health budgets. This vicious cycle of inter-linked failure will increase unhappiness and economic loss.
We have been here before. Tyne and Wear was the car crime capital of the world in the late 80s and it was worthy of comment if you had not been burgled. I certainly was.
I am not seeking to be alarmist but it is part of my job as a public representative to sound the alarm when necessary. The probable decline in the quality of our criminal justice system will affect us all and ministers should heed the voices of the professionals who have contacted me and who know what they are talking about.
Newcastle Chronicle and Journal
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