SIGN OF LABOUR PANIC AS THEY SCAREMONGER OVER KNIFE CRIME STATS
FIGURES SHOW SNP's TOUGH KNIFE CRIME POLICY ALREADY WORKING
LABOUR'S POLICY WOULD CUT POLICE NUMBERS BY 4,000
Glasgow SNP MSP Anne McLaughlin has pointed to local statistics for the Springburn and Western Glasgow North East Sub Division of Strathclyde Police which show that knife crime has fallen by 19% in the area since the SNP took office in 2007.
These figures follow others which show:
* Knife crime sentences are 35% longer under the SNP and now average 7 months.
* Knife crime in Strathclyde is down 11% since 2006/7
* 2,000 knives have been taken off the streets since 2007; and
* The number of knife carrying offences that led to a jail sentence is up from 22pc in 03/04 to 29pc in 07/08
Ms McLaughlin said the figures were in stark contrast to Labour's rhetoric which was attempting to increase fear of knife crime to implement a policy that would cost 4,000 police officers. Ms McLaughlin has written to Labour's justice spokesperson asking how they would pay for their policy of mandatory sentences but has not received a coherent answer that puts a figure on it or says what would be cut to pay for it.
Commenting Ms McLaughlin said:
"When a party has to resort to scaremongering in any election you know that it is a sign of panic.
"For Labour to ramp up the knife crime statistics in Glasgow - against all the available evidence - shows they have had to resort to negative politics and is an interesting development.
"The fact is that the statistics show that knife crime is dropping in the area that covers Glasgow North East.
"On top of this they are promoting a policy they can't make up their mind on. They have already been caught out changing their petition from mandatory to minimum sentences and the latest statement from Labour is still confused.
"And we still have to hear how they would pay for this policy and where the money would come from.
"Since Labour's candidate in the by-election has let the cat out of the bag and told us that Labour's shadow cabinet said it would be paid for, the onus is now on their justice spokesperson to explain where he would get the money from.
"The cost already equals the equivalent of nearly 4,000 police officers - over a fifth of Scotland's police strength and nearly half of Strathclyde's!
"Crime is a major issue on the doorsteps in Glasgow North East and people feel let down by decades of Labour failing to tackle this scourge on our community.
"It's about time they stopped scaremongering and started explaining how they would pay for their policies."
Info Notes
1. Figures from the Strathclyde Police statistical database show that there were 206 offensive weapon/knife crime offences in 2007 compared to 166 in 209 - a 19% reduction in 2 years.
2. Cost of Labour's Policy - Prison Places
Labour has said they will introduce mandatory minimum sentences of 1 year for carrying a knife.
According to Chief Constable Stephen House of Strathclyde Police that would mean 5,000 extra prison places would be required.
The current cost of a prison place for one year is £31,106.
Therefore the cost for 5,000 sentences would be: £155,530,000.
3. Cost of Labour's Policy - Police Numbers
Taking the figure of £155,530,000 is the cost of 3,924 policemen based on the average cost of a police constable in 2007-8 as being £39,629 (including salary, pensions liability, worked rest days and employer's NI).
Since there are 17,278 police officers (as of 30 June 2009 - an increase of 1044 since March 2007) that would mean a drop of 22.7%, over a fifth.
4. An article in the Scotland on Sunday regarding the remarks of Chief Constable Stephen House of Strathclyde Police on Labour's policy can be read here:
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