Law and order remains a battleground before a presumed 2005 general election.
Serial drug dealers will face a minimum of seven years behind bars when the next Conservative government is elected to power, claims Opposition Leader Michael Howard. This came in a keynote speech delivered at party campaign headquarters hours before Conservative MP Nigel Evans launched a private Bill into Parliament seeking to toughen up the law on drug dealing.
Mr Howard said: "We must give families the chance to win their children back from drugs. Life is far too precious to be written off. But when it comes to drug dealers there will be no sympathy. We need to arrest them. We need to lock them up. And we need to make an example of them so that every would-be drug dealer chooses another line of work.
"That’s why a Conservative Government will put more police on the streets. That’s why I will build more prisons. And that’s why I will introduce mandatory minimum seven year sentences for anyone convicted for a third time of dealing in hard drugs – sentences they will serve in full. Seven years will mean seven years."
The policy was promoted by Mr Howard when he served as Home Secretary in the former Conservative administration, but was wrecked by Labour, the Tories claim. According to the Tories, the latest official statistics highlight the result of the Government’s failure to get a grip on the drugs crisis; six hard drug dealers have been given a mandatory minimum sentence since 2000. "I believe that anyone convicted for a third time of dealing hard drugs should receive an automatic seven year minimum sentence – and that’s what Nigel Evans’ Private Members Bill will deliver," Mr Howard added.
As part of what the Tories claimed was a coherent, committed, consistent anti-drug programme, the Conservative leader also called on celebrities – including athletes and pop stars – and the media to set an example to young people by being prepared to declare that "drugs are wrong".
He stated: "Increasing drug use is not inevitable. Look at America. Drug abuse by young people has declined. In two years there has been a more than ten per cent drop in the number of high school pupils taking illicit drugs – the first fall for a decade. Why? Partly because American children are getting a clear message about drugs – that they are wrong, that they aren’t glamorous, that they ruin lives. Today in Britain youngsters all too often get mixed messages – like Mr Blair’s downgrading of cannabis.
"A Conservative Government will reclassify cannabis so that youngsters get a clear, consistent message on drugs – they are wrong. And we’ll fund a major advertising campaign with a clear, consistent anti drugs message: "Drugs are dangerous. They are illegal. They ruin lives. Do not take them".
