Keir Starmer visits the West Midlands to launch national mission to tackle crime

Sir Keir Starmer has launched Labour's second national mission in a major speech in the West Midlands.

"I wanted to be in Stoke-on-Trent and to be in the West Midlands to launch this mission. This is a joint effort." Sir Keir told our Chief Reporter, Adam Smith in a one-to-one interview.

"I want communities here to hear that an incoming Labour government will be absolutely driven with fixing the fundamentals in making our streets safe."

The Labour leader outlined the party's crime and policing agenda at Port Vale Football Club and later met with community and police leaders for roundtable meetings.

Sir Keir promised to "reverse the collapse in the proportion of crime solved" and halve levels of violence against women and girls within a decade, if he wins power at the next general election.

He also pledged to halve serious violent crime and raise confidence in the police and criminal justice system.

Sir Kier, a former director of public prosecutions said: "It's always working people who pay the heaviest price, working class communities who have to live under its shadow.

He added that justice "feels quite absent" from the country, calling the current charging rate of 5% "a recipe for impunity".

Sir Keir also said the criminal courts were "backlogged", leaving victims "trapped in a purgatory".

He pledged to restore confidence in policing and introduce "proper victims' law".

"Police must change"

Outlining an agenda to modernise policing in front of members of the shadow cabinet, he said: "Policing must start to serve women and minorities, no more excuses.

"Modernising the police is also the first step we need to take on halving violence amongst women and girls."

He said a Labour government would place specialist domestic abuse workers responding to 999 calls in every police control room, and set up a specialist rape unit "in every police force".

"And we'll also set up dedicated rape courts - the current prosecution rates are a disgrace."

He said the importance of "visible neighbourhood police" was also "crystal clear", repeating a pledge to recruit 13,000 extra officers and "get more police on the beat".

Fighting both low level and serious crime

Labour would also prioritise "fighting the virus that is anti-social behaviour: fly-tipping, off-road biking in rural areas, drugs".

"It's going to be a long, hard road," he added, saying success would depend on partners outside government and policing, involving "education, media, health, community services, online regulation".

Sir Keir also took aim at Big Tech, describing "tackling the evils our young boys are exposed to, following them in their pockets, wherever they go".

Labour would be "standing up to the Big Tech companies" in a world where a child could go online "and buy a machete as easily as a football".

"If you make money from the sale of weapons or radicalisation of people online, we will find ways to make them accountable."

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