The next Conservative Government will reverse Labour's cut in the number of police. We will also give the police the support and backing they need. At the moment many policemen and policewomen spend just 20 per cent of their time actually fighting crime. We will make sure the police spend less time filling in forms and hanging around in court waiting rooms, and more time on the streets catching criminals. Third, we are going to re-balance the justice system to protect people who defend their families, their homes and their property against criminals.
Vigilantes have no place in a civilised society.
But there is all the difference in the world between the career criminal who sets out deliberately to burgle a house and the terrified home-owner who acts to protect himself and his home. Unless our laws reflect natural justice, then they fall into disrepute. The next Conservative Government will overhaul the law with a strong presumption that, in future, the state will be on the side of people who protect their homes and their families against criminals. Conservatives believe in the first and foremost responsibility of the state is to protect its law-abiding citizens. This Government is failing in that responsibility, which is why the outcry over the Martin case has reverberated far beyond a small village in Norfolk.