Christina Rees, MP for Neath, has backed the Labour Party’s safer communities summer campaign as the Party pledges to crack down on anti-social behaviour and end violence against women and girls.
The Tories have cut police to the lowest level in a generation and cut funding for services that prevent crime from happening, leading to the loss of thousands of officers on the frontline and a £1.6bn shortfall in funding.
These decisions have helped cause a surge in anti-social behaviour, leaving people afraid in their homes. Latest figures show that in this year alone police have recorded over 2 million incidents of anti-social behaviour – the highest in seven years. This is just a fraction of the estimated 13.6 million adults who have witnessed or experienced anti-social behaviour during the same period.
The Labour Party would prioritise making communities safer by redirecting the £280 million earmarked for Boris Johnson’s new UK Government yacht and spend it in areas like Neath to tackle anti-social behaviour, putting more police on the beat in our communities, and strengthening legal protections for victims of antisocial behaviour.
Christina Rees, MP for Neath, said:
“The Tories in Westminster are weak on crime, cutting police and prevention services with little thought of how communities, such as ours in Neath, will suffer as a result.
“The Welsh Labour Government have stood up against Tory cuts by funding 500 Police Community Support Officers. A UK Labour Government would support them by giving victims more rights in law and putting more police officers on the beat.
“Together, Welsh and UK Labour would prioritise making our streets safer, instead of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on a flashy new UK Government yacht like Boris Johnson. People shouldn’t be afraid in their own homes, and it doesn’t have to be like this. It’s time for the safety of our communities to be taken seriously.”