Since Labour came to power in 1997 all crime (as measured by the British Crime Survey) has fallen by nearly two-fifths. Annual BCS statistics (from 1997 to the year ending March 2008) reveal that:

Overall crime is down 39 per cent.

Domestic burglary down 55 per cent

All vehicle-related thefts down 57 per cent

All household crime down 39 per cent

All BCS violence down 40 per cent

All personal crime down 39 per cent

The risk of being a victim of crime has fallen to 22 per cent, the lowest level ever recorded since the BCS began in 1981.

Three years ago Labour set ourselves the tough challenge to reduce all crime by 15 per cent by 2007/08. Today’s figures show that we have exceeded this – with an overall crime reduction of 18 per cent since the 2002/03 baseline for the target.

Of course, one violent crime is one more than we should tolerate and recent knife attacks right here in Thanet and elsewhere in Kent show that it is a problem that we must face up to even here in our own community. That is why we now have record numbers of police on the streets. It is also why Police Community Support Officers are being integrated into the neighbourhood police teams. Happily a recent study by Kent Police shows the policy is reducing worry about crime and is also cutting anti-social behaviour.

It is also good that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have announced plans to make people who carry knives and weapons aware of the harm they could do and announced that anyone over the age of 16 caught in possession of a knife can now expect to be prosecuted, rather than just given a caution. I also like their idea of "community pay back sentences", where young offenders have to "pay back for doing wrong", for example, by cleaning streets on a Friday or Saturday night or clearing up graffiti.