New Policing and Crime Bill in Mrs. Windsor's speech

I endorse Barnardo’s position on the recently announced Policing and Crime bill. They are campaigning on two key areas:

“To change sentencing thresholds so that only those 10 to 14 year old children convicted of ‘grave crimes’ or violent offences are locked up, and for greater investment in more timely support for children, young people and their families to address problems before they spiral out of control.”

“And to use these legislative opportunities to call for- a raising of the custody thresholds for under 15s; child protection to be a policing priority to further protect children from sex offenders."

A fairer and more effective justice system is needed urgently with the recession gaining momentum. We had warnings back in September of forthcoming higher crime levels as well as racial tensions, drug and alcohol problems and suicides which shows there's a real need for justice policies that help to prevent people from declining on a downward spiral, and which stop children growing up in crime-ridden environments. The UK government has missed yet another an opportunity to rise to such a challenge with this Policing and Crime Bill.

New survey on children is madness

This week, the First Minister Rhodri Morgan has offered some welcome criticism of Gordon Brown's 'Britishness' agenda. The Western Mail reported that Rhodri Morgan opposes the "criminalisation of the nation’s youth and a “fortress-like” attitude to asylum seekers". In my criminal justice report which I launched earlier this year, I referenced some of the First Minister's previous comments on youth justice which have been far more progressive than what we can expect from New Labour. I also quoted Rod Morgan (no relation to Rhodri!), who is a former head of the Youth Justice Board. Professor Morgan holds the view that the policies of the UK government criminalise children to a greater extent than any other country in Europe.

Both Rod and Rhodri are right, and a survey highlighted by the BBC this week seems to show that the UK government's victimisation of children is having a negative effect on general attitudes. The YouGov poll interviewed 2,021 UK adults, and over half believed that children are feral, behave like animals and present a danger to adults. So this is the perception. The facts are that most crime in the UK is caused by adults and the majority of victims of anti-social behaviour are children.

I fully support Barnardo's UK-wide advertising campaign which aims to highlight and challenge these negative perceptions of children. Children do not deserve to be scapegoated and blamed for all of society's problems. Finland is a country not that much bigger than Wales, but it is a country which treats its children and young people consistently better than we do, and perceptions are different as a result. Finland's youth crime rate that is almost non-existent. Isn't that the kind of system we should be aiming for?