Brown's betrayal

HOW can Gordon Brown's latest protestations on championing theinterests of victims of crime be taken seriously when his Government presides over an "open door" prison policy?

The juxtaposition of the Prime Minister's speech, with the preposterous announcement that prisoners no longer eligible for the Government's early release scheme can re-apply under fresh rules to avoid "disappointment", makes a mockery of Mr Brown assertion that it is Labour, and not the Tories, who should be trusted on law and order matters.

For the record, it was Labour – the party that falsely promised to be "tough on crime" – that implemented the early release scheme because of its abiding failure to ensure that the country had sufficient prison places at its disposal.

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And, having found itself in a position to halt the programme, presumably on a short-term basis until after the election, the Government appears to be capitulating. There's only one explanation for this; Ministers are clearly fearful that violent prisoners will take the Ministry of Justice to court for breaching their rights.

Yet, if Mr Brown is to be believed, Labour is the only party that will give victims of serious anti-social behaviour a "guarantee of protection" in law.

In doing so, he cited the harrowing case of Fiona Pilkington who killed herself and her disabled daughter after the authorities failed to protect them from neighbourhood bullies.

New legislation, however, is not required to achieve the Premier's objective. Such guarantees should already exist as a matter of routine. Presumably they do not because the police are weighed down with too much pointless paperwork.

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And the best remedy, from a victim's perspective, is for their tormenters to serve their prison sentence in full, and only be released when they no longer pose a threat to the safety of the law-abiding public.