§ 13. Mr. Galbraithasked the Secretary of State for Scotland, in view of the recently published figures of crime in Scotland, what steps he proposes taking to try to halt the increase which has taken place over recent years.
§ 71. Mr. Dempseyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he proposes to take to reverse the increasing crime wave; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BuchanWith permission, I shall answer Questions 13 and 71 together.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The Chair must be told of groupings.
§ Mr. BuchanI would refer the hon. Members to the reply my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Dumfries (Mr. Monro) on Wednesday, 27th November.—[Vol. 774, c. 121.]
§ Mr. GalbraithIs not this merely tinkering with the problem? How long will it take the hon. Gentleman to face the fact that the first duty of the Government is to provide law and order and that, when murder and crimes of violence have doubled over the last five years, ordinary citizens no longer feel that this is what is being done by the Government?
§ Mr. BuchanThe hon. Gentleman should know better than to ask me to face this problem. It would have been more helpful to his own community if statements he has made—some of them outrageous—had slackened rather than increased the tension. Such statements do not help me in trying to get to grips with the problem in a positive way.
§ Mr. DempseyDoes not my hon. Friend agree that, if the courts got rid of inconsistency in sentencing, we might make better progress? For example, we have had an instance of a man being sent to prison for a driving offence while another received probation for murder. Ending that sort of situation would help to curb crime in Scotland.
§ Mr. BuchanIf my hon. Friend will write to me about the instances he has in mind, I will look into them but he will not expect me to comment on the courts. They hear the full evidence.