Blunkett pledges to tackle crime and terror
David Blunkett told the Labour conference today that freeing Britain from the twin fears of crime and terror is key to the party winning an historic third term of office.
The Home Secretary made his keynote speech on the final day of the annual conference in Bournemouth and told delegates that he wanted a ‘balanced approach’ to asylum seekers.
Earlier he insisted that plans to speed up the process to remove failed asylum seekers did not make the Government ‘horrible, evil people’.
He took the opportunity to promote proposals for identity cards for every UK citizen, but admitted that the issue was causing tensions within the Cabinet.
‘If I can convince people that the technology, the civil liberties, the financial elements are all in place I hope we can get agreement,’ Mr Blunkett said.
On policing he acknowledged that the UK still needed more police officers, despite figures out today showing there are currently a record 136,386 officers in England and Wales.
Mr Blunkett announced that £22.5 million seized from criminals will be spent on community projects and fighting crime.
The Home Secretary also pledged to cut down on the growing problem of gun crime in the UK, saying, ‘Communities across the country must be restored to their people, protected from the organised gangs and gun-runners.’
He paid tribute to jeweller Marian Bates, who was shot dead on Monday by armed raiders at the family run shop in Arnold, near Nottingham.
The curtain will fall on this year’s conference with a rendition of Labour’s traditional anthem, The Red Flag, which has not been heard at conference for several years.
