The police and cuts
Local Labour Parties are still distributing leaflets which make Labour’s prime play the call for more police. The call should be instead for cutting the social roots of crime. Stop school exclusions. End the “exam factory” culture and tinpot authoritarianism which make schools inhospitable for many students, and worsen the mental-illness epidemic among teenagers. Give social services the resources and funding so that they can actually do family support work, and not just crisis control. Develop enough clean, safe social housing that everyone has a decent home. Make benefits adequate. Restore...