David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, set out a plan of action on drugs and crime to the Tory aprty conference in Bournemouth.
He has announced plans for what the Tories call tough action on hard drugs, support for drug-testing in schools, and plans to create 20,000 extra prison places.
David Davis told the conference in Bournemouth: "I make no apology for taking a hard line on drugs. They destroy lives, destroy society and render all our efforts to reduce crime worthless. The drug culture spawns the gun culture, and both help create the culture of violence."
"Under the next Conservative Government addicts will face a choice: rehabilitation, or the criminal justice system. Residential rehabilitation is not a soft option. It will be under court supervision – and failure will mean prison. This has worked in America, and with the right powers, it can work here too. The public is protected. The addict is encouraged to go straight – and stay straight.
"We’ll support, encourage and accelerate the implementation of random drug testing of school pupils. Children need to know that it is not cool to use drugs: it’s stupid, it’s illegal, and it’s dangerous."
The Conservatives say their plan of action on crime includes:
– Ending the madness of police officers having to fill in forms every time they stop someone.
– Starting a prison building programme and the recruitment of 40,000 extra police officers over eight years.
– Setting in train 24-hour surveillance at ports of entry to make it harder for people to enter the country illegally.
Mr Davis added: "Prison does work. It is a deterrent. Criminals fear it. And it takes criminals out of circulation – while they are locked up, they cannot commit crimes. Half of all crimes in Britain are committed by the same 100,000 persistent criminals. But at any one time, just 15,000 of these are in jail. Our criminal justice system is in crisis. We will solve this crisis. By scrapping Labour’s early release scheme; by increasing the proportion of the prison budget that is spent on education and rehabilitation; and by starting a prison building programme that will allow judges to send prisoners down for the sentence they deserve."
