Tory pledge on shop gangs threat

THE Tories have promised greater powers for shopkeepers to defend themselves against teenage gangs should they win the General Election, as the party continues to send its most senior MPs on the Yorkshire campaign trail.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said he wants to see the Conservative policy that offers greater legal protection to those who defend their homes extended to shopkeepers.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post during a visit to Leeds, Mr Grayling said that following the shocking case of Huddersfield shop owner Gurmail Singh – the 63-year-old grandfather who was beaten to death in his store – shopkeepers told him they fear prosecution themselves if they take steps to defend their businesses.

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Mr Grayling said when he visited the area the issue raised more than anything else was crime and anti-social behaviour, with many feeling they could do little when intimidated by gangs.

"I was struck by the concern of shopkeepers after visiting Huddersfield following the very distressing case of Gurmail Singh," he said. "They are having to put up with gangs of kids coming in, shoplifting and saying 'you can't touch me', in other cases it can obviously be much more serious.

"What I want to see is more protection given to shopkeepers who have to defend themselves.

"When people are forced to defend their homes too often it is the householder, defending their home and family, who ends up in the courts, in reality they are victims.

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"We have got to raise the bar for the law, and having listened to the shopkeepers in Huddersfield, that's something I would like to see extended to the shopkeepers."

Mr Grayling said he wants prosecutions only to be brought if householders and shopkeepers, use "disproportionate force", echoing comments from party leader David Cameron last month who warned that burglars leave their rights at front doors when they break into properties.

The Shadow Home Secretary yesterday visited four Yorkshire constituencies – Leeds North West, Keighley, Pudsey and Bradford West – as the Tories continued their high profile campaign in the region.

They have identified Yorkshire as a key battleground with 17 seats being vulnerable to a swing of less than 10 per cent.

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Mr Cameron chose to launch the campaign in Leeds – where he called on candidates to fight for Yorkshire's "great ignored, decent, hard working people".

Mr Grayling said he believed the party's big push north could shake off criticism that they are too focussed on the South.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls insisted Labour were the "underdogs" but insisted there was still no appetite for David Cameron among Yorkshire voters.

Mr Balls, who will be standing for Labour in Morley and Outwood, said: "I think what his polling is telling him – which is what I know because of the hundreds of hours of work we do – is nobody on the doorstep at the moment is saying we want David Cameron to be Prime Minister."

He accused the Tories of resorting to negativity, asking voters whether they want five more years of Gordon Brown, but said the real choice was "do you want five years of David Cameron?"