PM promises tougher stance on gun crime
The prime minister has promised that the government will respond to police calls for a tougher stance on gun crime.
Speaking to BBC One’s Sunday AM programme, Tony Blair indicated that the government will move for the mandatory five year sentence for possession of a gun to be imposed on anyone over 18. At present, the policy only applies to people aged 21 or over.
He also supported proposals to make gang membership an aggravating factor in sentencing, and acknowledged the need to provide witnesses protection from gangs.
Speaking after a fourth man was shot dead in London in a fortnight, Mr Blair attempted to downplay concerns of escalating violence and the emergence of a gang culture in the UK. He insisted that gun violence “was a specific problem within a specific criminal culture”.
On Saturday a 28-year-old man was found shot dead in Hackney, east London. His death followed the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Billy Cox, who was attacked in his home in Clapham north on Valentine’s Day.
Announcing that ministers and police will meet this week to discuss ways to reduce gun violence, Mr Blair was accused of adopting a knee jerk reaction to the latest spate of shootings.
The shadow home secretary David Davis welcomed the review of gun crime, but claimed the prime minister was “reacting to a headline rather than dealing with the issues in the long-term”.
He told Sky News’ Sunday Live: “We have got to take some time, think it through, do it properly.”
The Liberal Democrats echoed the accusations of knee-jerk policy making. Leader Menzies Campbell warned that more laws would not stop gun crime, calling instead for more police and more effective policing.
And Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes claimed Mr Blair’s appearance on AM “shows the folly of knee-jerk reactions and regular statements that new laws are the answer”.
He argued: “The 2003 Criminal Justice Act clearly made it possible for anybody in England and Wales guilty of firearms offences and over 18 on the date of sentence to have a five-year minimum period of imprisonment.
“Before the government comes to parliament with serious plans, ministers must get their facts right about the laws that they have recently passed and which they already think are not fit for purpose.”
However, uncertainty has surrounded the imposition of mandatory five year sentences for over 18s since a court of appeal judgement last March.
