Cardiff West Lib Dems welcome conference vote for effective action on crime

8.57.58pm GMT Mon 5th Mar 2007

Hardworking local Councillor Jacqui Gasson and popular local campaigner Alison Goldsworthy are campaigning to cut crime

Welsh Liberal Democrats from Cardiff West have welcomed new proposals to cut crime and anti-social behaviour adopted by the party at last weekend's conference in Harrogate.

Party members in Cardiff West have been carrying out a survey of residents about the effects of crime, and will be publishing some of the findings later this spring.

Alison Goldsworthy said:

"These proposals would make those causing vandalism and graffiti clean up the mess they cause and make them carry out tough community sentences.

"The debate also highlighted the Government's mess over prisons and the problems caused by the increasing re-offending rates, now the highest in Europe. Under Labour too many people go to prison, get released early and go on to re-offend. Liberal Democrats proposals will break that cycle by greatly expanding prison training schemes.

"We will ensure more people leave prison, having served their proper sentence, as people with marketable skills who are a benefit to society rather than people who go straight back into a life of crime.

"It is already clear from our survey that people in Cardiff West are very concerned about crime but are fed up with Labour's tough posturing and failed promises. People are also concerned about the need to have more police officers and prefer to use the money Labour plans to waste on the ineffective Identity Card scheme spent on employing more police instead."

So far, hundreds of people in Cardiff West have returned responses to the Liberal Democrats' crime survey.

Notes:

1) This motion can be read in full on the Liberal Democrat website (http://www.libdems.org.uk/conference/conferenceagenda.html) and the full policy paper is available at http://tinyurl.com/2rljr8.