Figures showing crimes gradually going unpunished over the last decade are gaining traction, prompting criticism towards the Tories that “crime is legal now”.
Although Home Secretary Priti Patel claimed before the last general election that the Conservatives are “the party of law and order”, Home Office data revealed around the same time by the BBC seemed to suggest otherwise.
Striking differences could be seen between how many crimes ended up in a charge or court summons between 2010-2011, as compared to 2018-2019.
The biggest drop in justice intervention could be seen for sexual offences and violence, but significant differences could also be seen for robberies and criminal damage.
Reactions
The resurfaced figures triggered several reactions, with actor Richard Trinder saying: “Wow. Party of law and order, my arse.”
Telegraph correspondent Will Brown was also shocked by the figures, reacting: “Bleak”.
“Crime is legal now, thanks Conservative Party,” one Twitter user concluded.
‘The party of lawlessness and disorder’ post-Brexit
Last year, shadow chancellor David Lammy said the Tories are “the party of lawlessness and disorder” after the Brexit vote.
His comments came after Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit bill cleared its final Commons hurdle.
It gave the government the power to override provisions in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement – the “divorce” settlement with Brussels signed by Boris Johnson – relating to Northern Ireland.
One clause – which Tory MPs were whipped to vote against – “requires ministers to respect the rule of law and uphold the independence of the courts”.
In recent months, the government has consistently attempted to rewrite Brexit agreements it signed, whilst also wanting to scrap the European Court of Justice – with Tory justice minister Dominic Raab arguing “it’s not their job to dictate things to the UK”.
Undermining rights protection
The moves were heavily criticised by a law professor at the University of Liverpool, who expressed a dim view of the Tory government’s insistence to rewrite the Northern Ireland Protocol and scrap the European Court of Justice and the Human Rights Act.
Michael Dougan said the Tories want to scrap the UK’s Human Rights Act, which incorporates rights from the European Convention on Human Rights, because of similar reasons related to having to adhere to the Northern Ireland Protocol as part of international law.
He told TLE: “It’s just another part of the same programme of this aggressive nationalism, that thinks ‘we’ll do it on our own, and we don’t need foreigners telling us what to do’, which in the end simply serves to undermine yet further the idea of liberal democracy, in which minority rights are protected, in which citizens actually have some form of effective shield against the abuse of state power, in which the institutions of the state have to respect certain basic principles, which prevent them from infringing our very fundamental liberties.”
Related: Law professor warns UK of ‘serious suffering’ from Johnson’s hard Brexit
