4. Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage change there has been in the incidence of recorded crime since (a) 1994 and (h) 1979. [25040]
§ Mr. HowardBetween 1994 and 1995, recorded crime in England and Wales fell by 2.4 per cent. Between 1979 and 1995, there was an increase of 102 per cent.
Mr. WilliamsDoes the Home Secretary now accept that there is a good correlation between unemployment and the incidence of crime? Over the past three years, there has been a significant fall in unemployment and a small fall in the incidence of crime but, over the past 15 years, we have had unemployment rates of 10 to 15 per cent., with the despond, lack of self-esteem and hopelessness that that produces in people, and its corrosive effect in society. Is not that the root cause of the fact that crime has more than doubled since 1979?
§ Mr. HowardThe research carried out into the matter does not support the hon. Gentleman's thesis. Furthermore, this is an irrelevant argument, because I accept that we must do everything to bring down unemployment, which is a social evil in itself, irrespective of whether it has anything to do with crime. We have been extremely successful in reducing unemployment at a time when it has been increasing in most of the rest of Europe. Why does the hon. Gentleman not rejoice with me in the fact that, in Dyfed-Powys, in which his constituency lies, recorded crime over the past two years has fallen by no less than 22 per cent.—a decrease of 5,300 in recorded crimes since 1993?
§ Mr. Bill WalkerDoes my right hon. and learned Friend agree that, in the campaign to keep recorded crime 573 figures coming down, the possession of identity cards would be a big advantage to the police? The military and the reserve forces have identity cards, and so do Members of Parliament. Many people who work in companies have identity cards, too. Why should we not have identity cards for every member of the public, which would assist the police in their efforts to bring down crime?
§ Mr. HowardI understand my hon. Friend's point, but he will doubtless be aware of the fact that the police do not favour a compulsory identity card. None the less, I shall take what he has said fully into account in working up my proposals.
§ Mr. StrawWhat is there to rejoice about in a record which shows that, as the Home Secretary has confirmed, recorded crime has more than doubled over the past 16 years? Is he not aware that, as crime has doubled, the proportion of people convicted or cautioned for those crimes has fallen by more than half? Is that not the worst record of any British Government since the war—and, indeed, of any comparable Administration in any western country? Is it therefore any wonder that the British people have so comprehensively lost confidence in the Government's ability to keep communities safe from crime?
§ Mr. HowardThe hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well that, as my right hon. Friend the Minister of State pointed out, crime was rising before 1979. It has also been rising in other western European countries and in countries elsewhere in the developed world since that date. In the past three years, however, there has been the greatest fall in recorded crime since records began to be kept in the middle of the 19th century. That is a matter for some satisfaction, and we congratulate the police on their achievements.
However, there is much more to be done. That is why I have made further proposals. Why did the hon. Gentleman and his party oppose all the measures that we announced to improve our record further? Why does he oppose our sentencing proposals and the proposals to change the right to silence, which are having such a beneficial impact on crime? Why did he undermine the proposals to change the law on bail? Why does Labour have such an appalling record on crime?