Political Opinion: Lucy Rigby Column: Everyone deserves to feel safe in our town

In my first year as our MP, community safety is something which has been raised with me again and again. Some people have told me that they haven’t reported crimes because they lack faith that action will be taken. Others tell me that they don’t go into town anymore in the evening because they worry about personal safety.

Parents tell me that they don’t like their children playing out because they worry that the streets just aren’t safe. Shop owners – from corner shops to large chains - have told me about the prevalence of retail crime, and I’ve spoken to staff who have been the victims of violent assaults.

Every time I hear something like this, I am more and more determined that we shouldn’t have to continue to live like this. All of us – everyone – has the right to feel safe in our community.

20,170 crimes were committed in Northampton North between March 2024 and February. The most common was violent crime, followed by antisocial behaviour and retail crime. Along with these, I know through the several community safety meetings I’ve held around Northampton that residents are also concerned about drug dealing and knife crime -especially how gangs can take advantage of our young people.

Under the last Labour government, we saw an approach that was avowedly tough on crime and on the causes of crime. Unfortunately, the subsequent 14 years of Conservative governments undid so much of that good work. Too few police on the beat. Weak on law and order. Cuts to community schemes for young people. A record court backlog.

Fortunately, this Labour Government has already shown its commitment to bringing law and order back to Northampton. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will see an extra 142 police officers in Northamptonshire especially to patrol our streets and a named police officer for every neighbourhood.

Earlier this month, the Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire, visited Northampton to speak with shop owners and police officers and promised that the new Retail Crime Action Plan will make a huge difference on how forces across England tackle organised shoplifting and abuse.

This summer will see the start of the ‘Safer Streets Summer’ campaign here in Northampton. We will see increased police patrols and local action to tackle anti-social behaviour. Increased police presence will be accompanied by stronger prevention and enforcement action by police, councils and other local partners.

Our Labour Police Fire and Crime Commissioner has developed a bespoke local action plan with police and businesses to supporting our town centre to become a vibrant place where people want to live, work, spend time. This includes increased visible town centre policing and ramping up the use of targeted enforcement powers against troublemakers – including banning perpetrators from hotspots.

Then we have our flagship Crime and Policing Bill, which will become law when Parliament returns in the autumn, and make sure those who break the law pay the price.

Those who persist in antisocial behaviour will be handed respect orders, banning them from certain areas and giving police extra powers to punish them, including seizing vehicles like e-scooters and mopeds.

To tackle knife crime, we have already banned the sale and purchase of all zombie knifes, machetes and samurai swords, and the Bill will give police the power to confiscate them even if they’re just held in private. Local businesses will be protected by making assaulting a retail worker a criminal offence and making it so any incident of theft can go to court, no matter the value.

Finally, we will ensure those who take advantage of our young and vulnerable pay the price with new offences for child criminal exploitation and the cruel practice of cuckooing, when gangs take over the houses of elderly or vulnerable people.

Despite Reform’s bluster, they would take us backwards on all of this. Last Monday, Nigel Farage announced a series of expensive and unworkable schemes with no real way of paying for them.

By contrast, as we are proving, Labour is the party that is capable of restoring public trust in our criminal justice system and in public safety. We are a government of law and order. And as our MP, I will do everything I can to ensure we can all feel safe in our town.