Blair crime measures criticised

Tony Blair is accused of being a "cipher for public anger"

Tony Blair's swathe of law and order measures seems to be more about winning elections than really tackling crime, a leading criminologist has said.

In advice published by Downing Street, Oxford University's Ian Loader said some initiatives were "like putting a plaster on a broken leg".

He accused Mr Blair of seeing the role of government as being "an uncritical cipher for public anger" over crime.

His criticisms came ahead of a speech from Mr Blair about law and order.

The prime minister is expected to renew his call for the criminal justice system to be rebalanced in favour of the victims of crime.

'Hyperactive'

Prof Loader was on a panel of academics and police officers who wrote to Mr Blair to advise him about crime.

In his report, he complained about the government's "legislative hyperactivity", with more than 40 law and order acts since 1997.

"As an observer, I confess this has left me somewhat baffled - activity that seems to have more to do with the imperatives of electoral competition than a serious effort to address problems of crime and disorder," he said.

The "dizzying pace" of initiatives had made it more difficult for the Home Office to concentrate on managing the system, he argued.

Prof Loader said Mr Blair's approach suggested he had lost confidence in the ability of government to be a "voice of reason".

"One isn't going to tackle the problem you have identified with a prime ministerial statement on, and yet more legislation about, the criminal justice system," said Prof Loader.

"It is like putting a plaster on a broken leg."

He added: "I guess my suggestion is this: think hard before deciding that what our society needs right now is another grand statement of governmental purpose and a further round of headline-grabbing legislation."

Sounding tough?

For the Conservatives, shadow home secretary David Davis said the comments were a damning indictment on Labour's law and order policy.

And Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: "The government's feverish battle to sound tough in the newspapers doesn't solve our crime problems - it makes them worse."

Another of the experts advising No 10 said it was wrong to focus on meeting public anxieties by shaking up the criminal justice system.

Sir Anthony Bottoms, Wolfson Professor of Criminology at Cambridge University, said some parts of the justice system needed reform.

But they would not necessarily bring improvements because of the low detection rate for many crimes and the reluctance of some people to report crimes to the police because of fears of repercussions.

He pointed to the success of trials of a scheme where police focus on the incidents causing greatest public concern.

Meeting victims

Mr Blair visited inner city areas of Bristol on Thursday to hear from the victims of crime.

James Gray, 65, told him he had phoned 999 more than 180 times in the past 15 years, but said officers rarely came round to his house.

Mr Blair, who had an egg thrown at him during his visit, said he wanted to see justice speeded up.

"The courts don't necessarily work on the emergency timetable the local community actually needs," he said.

He also said his efforts to tackle the problems had been repeatedly watered down in Parliament.