I think they should be a curfew for kids I had one from my parents when I was a kid most parents today dont just let them run riot in the streets without a care in the world. Also need to bring in clubs for kids with strict rules from joining to keep them at bay. Also families with repeat offences from disturbing the peace in the neighbourhood should be moved in high rise flats out of the way and let them live together in the hell they want might appreciate what they once had. Need to get tough on people of today

we now have dedicated prisons for foriegn criminals and statistics show the numbers still rising.put this together with the growing numbers of gun/gang crimes and knife attacks and it's not difficult to work out how to reduce crime.

Sadly Ron the government have to let people like you go free, we have no mental hospitals anymore. So your saying knife crime and shooting are all done by immgrants then, blithering idiot.

Also I love how the phot to this thread is of smiling old people! Do old people never commit crimes? is that meant to suggest that its only the old and elderly who have to endure crime on the streets and doorsteps? Communities arent just made up of old people!

When are the main parties going to start and actually listen to people. I know that there are many different views and many different solutions but I never feel that I am getting listened to. Politicians just seem to spout out their veiws and think that I feel that what they are saying is what's best for me. Ross

Simon, what a thing to say, are you so well lets leave it, and look at simple terms, the older you get the more able you are to defend your self, many older people take up boxing and karate, while the younger people cannot do this because they are young have health problems and tend to be easy targets, so yes when your elderly your better at defence running and getting a head butt in, hang on I've got that the wrong way around silly me.

You read a bit to much into that! My point was simply that they should re-design the images they used on some of these threads and maybe have a mix of young and old people in that photo. I just dont like how it suggests the old people are the only people suffering in communities. Just because someone is young doesnt mean they can defend themselves and dont take abuse and harrassment in their community. Myself and my ex-gf was jumped on and both kicked on the ground last year by a gang of 8 people! Us being young and healthy really came in handy then!!!

I think you'l find I did say exactly what I was thinking! You just read too much into it.

Heres an idea, how about letting local councils decide where and when CCTV needs installed without being told "sorry we cant deal with that, you have to contact the police" and then having the police fob you off! How about actually arresting people and locking them up instead of giving them ASBOs. That way they wouldnt be on the streets in the first place. How about giving local people the power to deal with anti-social behaviour themselves without fear of being arrested because the idiots complain they were harrassed!

Parasitelabour, not sure what you want us to do, I think I know who you are, and sadly your worse then Labour or the dam Tories, either say something or push off.

The entire notion of 'the community' troubles me. It's all very well for our politicians to go on about the importance of our communities and what our communities want but I want to know who, what, where and when my community is! What are community leaders and how do they become such things? This may not be the case for everyone but, as far as I'm concerned, politicians have just invented a concept that has absolutely no relevance to me.

I think community does stand for something. All things start in the community, be it education, having things to do or people living in an area acting responsbily. I think investing in communities as well as decent and strong policing can make local government and communities the essence of Britain.

Does anyone actually believe this rubbish and nonesense?

How can we have safer communities when 9/10 police officers are in dask jobs. Community officers have no powers immigration policies are a joke Welfare state is a joke An Mp recently said "the kids in this area have nothing to do " therefore implying thats its ok to shoot someone. And then just the otherday i read emigration from this country is at a record high. I WONDER WHY ?

9/10 police officers are not in desk jobs. Community support officers have the power to prevent crime through patrolling and being in contact with police officers. Young people in communities do need something to do, and this can remedy some community ills.

Community police officers or toy policemen are not the answer they are a waste of time and money,when will this government ever learn they really are useless.

I agree community police officer are an opt out for having real officers, it's Labours way of doing it on the cheap, but they are here now so they must be used. As for Police officers being behind desk even they say they are. We need local bobbies doing the beat stopping chatting to people getting the info. Whats the use of seeing one car a month, return to the local police doing local things. If it' community police so be it, but do not worry brown will give them power just rotten wages sadly.

We live in the united kingdom united as one a family this is how it is meant to be but its not everyday i turn on news to find more people have been shot peodophiles walking free from court spending millions on the olympics when we hospitals are shutting what is going on i have a plan follow it and we will get back to how we should be United as one. *Tougher punishments for people who comit serious crimes eg:murder if you take another human beings life your human rights should be gone and life in prison shouls mean LIFE. *Raise the drinking age to 21 *Children should stay in school until they are 18 they should be taught a trade,about the history of Britain,guncrime,finances and how to be an individual and stay true to what you believe in. *Parents should be made accountable for the acctions of there children untill there children are 18. *banish benefits for the bone idol,it has been made far to easy for people to not work and to live of handouts. *Do not let any more illegal immigrants into our country. *Ban rappers and other artists to use guns and weapons in music videos and influeonce our children into thinking they are cool. Young people need a positive role model in there life which a lot of children are not getting we need to be that positive role model what better role model than parents and and adults that stand up for they believe in. I love this country and i will not stand by and watch as we as human being s destroy it.

For my sanity and health I have been forced to sell my home because of kids/teenagers, me and my fiance are only 32. I am sick of the breaking windows which has forced me to get ploy-carbanate windows (plastic), kids think nothing of sitting in or on your property when you confront them you get a load of abuse. They run over your car which has forced us to park our car elsewhere which is annoying as we have to think about the amount of shopping we buy as we have to carry it from the car to our house. Graffiti is also a problem but from older teenagers 16 - 18+ they are doped up on god knows what which costs me money to clean off as it is a private house, and to be honest we just let them because we are afraid to confront them. We have had large chunks of our surrounding wall knocked off by these teenagers also. Calling the police is a joke also, they say we will be round in an hour alot of the time they don't bother, and when they do they do nothing alot of the time just drive past or they have no rights or power against kids even though the kids swear or push yes actually push the officer, these kids/teenagers have absolutly no fear of police or the law. These type of things happen of a daily basis where I live are and we are at our wits end as are alot of the neighbors. Asbos are a joke they actually brag to your face that they have one. We cannot have police call to our house as we know we will be victimized just like ours have been in the area. They law in this country is a joke most likely made be people who have not lived in an area like this, in the condition it is now. I am absolutely terrified of what its going to be like when I am a pensioner, I wish I could leave the country but being epileptic with other health problems I tried before they said no.

Use some common sense: - Cancel all the stupid nanny state laws you've brought in. Get rid of the "public servants" watching people through cctv to catch them dropping crisps. Drop FPN and ASBOs and let's get back to innocent before proven guilty - in a court of law. - Instruct the Chief Constables to get bums off seats and increase police time on the street to 50% at least. - Deport IMMEDIATELY any non-brit convicted of a crime. - Take the playstations out of jails. - Make so called positive discrimination illegal & treat everyone the same. - Finally start representing people, not controlling them!

TOTALLY AGREE.

Well, I discovered on Thursday morning just what it feels like to have somebody break into your house and threaten violence in front of the children as they’re getting ready for school. Me and my family spent the night without being able to sleep because of loud talking, shouting and swearing during our neighbours drunken party. I work, my wife works and my kids go to school in the morning. These people do not. So why care? We woke up, having only managed to sleep for hardly two hours and we decided to show these people how it feels to be woken up or kept awake just as they have done to us on many occasions in the past. We gave them a blast of rock music, slammed some doors and shouted out ‘come on, let’s have a party, who cares about the neighbours’. Moments later, there was banging at our front door, then one of the neighbours came through a back door and pushed my wife out of the way, ran up the stairs and started to scream in my face, throwing obscenities as he ranted and raved, trying to head butt me. My kids who are only eight and six were terrified. All the while, I was determined to phone 999 and ‘do the right thing’. To cut a long and traumatic story short, I managed to get my kids out whilst my wife and his sister who had appeared on the scene tried to calm the thug down and ring from another neighbours house which meant walking down the street with just my Y fronts on with two petrified kids in each hand. The police did come and took an initial statement in their notebooks and another one came later that day to take a full statement. As yet, no arrest has been made and the b*a*s*t*a*r*d sits in his house or casually walks in and out past our front window without a care in the whole wide world. This evening a police car drove by and past him without stopping in the street to attend to his mother who was drunk as usual. They brought her home. He arrived back a few minutes later and still no arrest was made. We’ve been up to the local police station to find out what the hell is going on. This evening, I am still sitting here wondering why a thug who broke into my home, assaulted us and threatened violence in front of two small children is allowed to just parade around without a care in the world more than sixty hours later right next door in the adjoining property. Quite frankly, unless there is some greater plan that the police have in mind, I’ve given up with justice in this country.

I once had a similar experience only worse next door to us lived a filthy dirty unemployed man,3 children all on the at risk register,11 dogs all permanantly locked in a shed and interbreeding,the garden the front of the house and inside were littered with rubbish and excrement and they would be entertaining all of their dosser friends all night whilst we had to work the next day.The police were called 90 plus times,the social services were called the rspca the enviornmental health and also i petittioned our local soppy liberal mp,they were all usless and powerless to act because of stupid badly planned laws by blairs government,the police were frustrated and confessed to having a difficult job made worse by a government full of meddling idiots with zero common sense.Eventually our neighber set fire to his house when he found out we had sold a week before contacts were signed eventually his house was repossed i have no confidance in labour wheather it is blair,brown or charmin mow running it they are usless.

Yet if you or I go down to a local pub and have a pint and a ciggie, we're nicked. This government make me want to puke right now.

I completely sympathise as you know. I mentioned at some point about myself and my ex being attacked about a year ago. I also know how it feels to have someone get away scott-free and not being able to hurt them back. It angers me even now to think of my ex on the ground in tears! I also agree the police should do more, and that the government restricts them. But I dont think we should look at other laws and be all "they could be doing better things like protecting us". But if you noticed, alot of pubs are getting away with smoking still because the police realise they have better things to do. I dont think its right to flaunt the law, as Ive said. But I do agree the police have more important things to deal with.

Another story i'm very sorry to here and again i hope your both ok. but i'm going to put a point to you. I have no idea where your from who you are etc.. but one thing i kind of got was the impression that your from a village. So please put your self in this scenario. The scenario is exstream but it has to be to get this message accross.+++++++ There is an argument over house prices with in the country. The goverment of the time is fulling behind in opinion polls. It decides in an effort to please the electrot to buy up all country side & farming land and indiscriminatly build housing on it. There is uproar from those who have lived in the country side all their live's and a refusel to sell their land. A campain group then emerges (for the bennefit of this scenario we wil call 'exstream action for housing' or EAH) more or less spreding lies and starting a hate campaign against those who do not sell up. EAH gain support from about 10% of the population a lot of these people have close link's with media and pollitics they also are wealthy people who have a lot to gain by suport for EAH as they are the people who have the finace to buy this land and place homes on them. Now the government is in a position where by gaining favour with EAH it will gain support in the media and will start to get large finacial contributions from those who stand to gain finacialy from developing the country side.The government then starts talk of changing the law so that those in the country side have to sell thier houses and land. A survey is commisioned it finds the results 10% in favour of forced purchase of land and the other 90% of the country had not asked for this all they wanted was for those in power to except their was a problem and start dealing with the issue.These findings do not suit the government so with the miracle of statistics they rig the figures to 90% in favour 10% against. Mean wile the folk from the country side start a protest but despite the letters they wrote to the media not one camara shows just a lot of police handing out fines under a new public order act that has been sneaked in with out public knowledge or consent. You are all told that if you protest again you will be liable for arrest. Now discusted at this you start to look on the internet for support you look at web sights that make it quiet clear to you that public opinion is on your side despite government figures saying that it's not. You are now confused why is their so much opinion against the idea of making people sell off the country side yet their is no attention in the media you realise that that a minority of the country with a lot to gain by a change in law are those with the wealth and the power to control the media. Your home is now potentially now going to be in the middle of the largest cheap housing estate in the world. From what you have red from web sights, descussion forums, people you have talked to etc.. you realise that public opinion on your side. So you have a choice do you stand up an fight knowing that you may be fined or arrested or do you sit back and take what ever life throws at you like a good little sheep ??

You should look up "Cramlington" on the internet and you'l soon realise that its apparently "one of the fasters growing new towns in northumberland". Our local council is constantly selling land to build more houses, shops and other useless stuff we dont need or ask for. We try to protest and it goes nowhere. We are currently about to have a huge redevelopment of our local shopping center, which will include a cinema, ice-rink, bowling alley and improved services.... But while all that sounds great, what it will actually do is make parking worse and probably leave the entire town crippled for about 12 months. We have had expansions on our local shopping center before and it ended up with about 10 empty lots where shops were expected to move in. About 3 of them actually got bought and we lost about 1/4 of our parking space! We can no longer have the local fair in cramlington anymore, because there is no where to go! Yet if you go about 10 miles to the beach, and look at "blyth" the redevelopment there has been staggering and a huge improvement! Despite it being the same council, we seem to get shafted!

Sorry simon please read the scenario again the point i was trying to make was not a real one it was a 'scenario' it was a situation to try and describe the dangers of blindly following the law and what it tells you to do. Law in a democracy is a social construction if society did not want a law then a law is only there to support a minority that stand to gain by that law being put in place.

simon sorry to here what happened i hope your ok. Unfortunatly i know of more stories like this a friend of mine was attacked by what he thinks was about 10 eastern europeans (where they come from is erelavant i'm just setting the picture). In the process of being attacked he was stabbed but managed to take the knife off the assailant and in defending himself ended up stabbing 2 of the people attacking him. It should be pointed out that my friend was ex royal marines so he had experience with unarmed combat. Guess who was arrested and charged. Not one of the eastern europeans was either arrested or charged.

I cannot even begin to imagine what that must have been like as it is like my experience amplified by 100 times. My experience was unsettling enough as I loathe the whole idea of violence. I asked the police what would have happened if I'd started to hit the bloke and he told me that they would have been obliged to nick me as well. On a second time, you have a right to use 'reasonable' force. I find that hard to judge, to be honest. We go on as usual as now and refuse to change our lives becasue of him. I became really obsessed for a few days, but came to the conclusion that that is exactly what he wants since he wants to pour his own inadequacies and hatred on others and so feel that he has somekind of influence over others. Yetsreday, I went swimmin gwith the the kids and came to the conclusion that, for every minute that I am happy, I have scored a victory over him. We are still waiting for the arrest, although he has given up the parading as he sees it has no apparent effect on my family or me. Best Regards, Roland and thanks for the reply. Even though I don't know you, it still helps. I feel for the Marine, he must be livid to say the less and I should think that he feels totally betrayed by the system and wonders why he ever bothered to potentially put his life on the line for his country.

NO i would say your situation was far worse at the end of the day my friend could handle himself and i dred to think what thats like when you've got kids to protect at the same time. From his point of view it was not really the fact that he'd been aressted at the end of the day a situation like that it's not surprissing it was more the fact that non of the others we're aressted and their word was just taken as fact without any further enquiry. i just hope the courts see his side of the story.

who voted gordon brown in anyway comin with all these new policies i never voted for him he shouldnt even be in power

Here Here

Do you not no anything about the British constitution?! You vote for your local MP rather than a PM.

If you put a blue rosette on a chimp in Royal Tunbridge Wells, he'd become an MP . . . and if you put a pink and yellow rosette on a chimp on in him in other parts he'd be an MP still. Hardly anyone votes with their MP in mind, most vote for the party and who will be PM.

No i did'nt vote him in either and i love the way he come's up with these new more often than not stupid policies and dose'nt even put his polices to the public for wide spread debate or public reaction. Things like cannabis i'm sure its not great for you at the end of the day but it's not worth taking police out of action over it when theirs so much more they could be doing.

I think this government just work to their own agendas,they pretend to listen and act on involving the public on minor irelevent issues but not important ones.Most people are against this now unacceptable level of multiculturalism,but do they listen ? no,most people are against us being intigrated into europe but do they listen ? no they just tell lies and force this dictatorship on us via the back door with carfully worded documents ibelieve labour have destroyed britain,we do not have any longer a democracy but a dictatorship run by marxists and incompidant academics with crazy ideals and zero common sense.

Peter that is the truth of it. The thing is it's not a race issue as all my mate's who are colored (if i'm allowed to use that word) have exactly the same opinion, their familes came to this country and became apart of this country they did not come here to take what they could and put nothing in. The multi cultural dream is now the multi cultural night mare. How do we expect to create a decent society when good knows how many people over here do not see them selves as part of this society and have no intention of becoming part of this society and expect this society to bow down to it's customs.

so the government are gonna upgrade cannabis to class b what a waste of time and money as if the police dont waste enough time with petty crimes why dont they make alcohol class a as that does the most damage wake up labour smell the coffee

Be careful mate don't give em any more stupid ideas.

I would like to say that I agree with Amy and Roland. We seem to live in a world that leaves certain groups feeling so powerless and ignored, discriminated against and stereotyped that we have all sorts of problems. If we could only start listening to the people these laws effect, all of them not just the easiest to reach ones. Is it the hidden harm research or hiden communities research that I liked the sound of. Why are the poor still paying more for things in relation to the rich? Why do we have a post code lottery for things like councelling and the NHS. Why do we still feel the need to class people as lower than us or second class citizens because we feel we are better, stronger or more in the right than they are. Some people simply don't have any family support or family supplied norms and values of society. Instead of helping them we still demonise them and see them as a problem not a person with a problem. The working class have suffered so much over the years like areas that have lost their employment which has coinsided with a rise in substance use in the area. I am not in a position to judge cause I am a human being. But I do believe that education helps. I know that i don't want to see any more lost lives, poverty and homelessness especially on the scale we have it. Not when we could do some thing about it. I would like to see a more liberal country. A country that says who am i to say they can't do that. Who am i to prevent tham having that if they want it. Within some basic rules such as do not covert thy neighbours stuff and don't take or damage another persons life. Things could be a lot more simple and fairer. The lord gave us all the herbs and plants to use and ............

Why do we have to pay tax on over time pay, when its our choice to work. It seems to be a tax for working class people, most of the working upper and middle class get paid monthly and don't get paid overtime. Is it not about ime o give somthing back to the working class!!!

I have heard that Nicolas Sarkozy intends to make overtime untaxed in France as a way to stimulate the economy through increased disposable income among the working population. On the one hand, it is a very attractive idea on a personal level and I would find it hard to be against. On the other hand, is it justifiable when some people are still unemployed or can only get a few hours of work per week when willing to do more. I very much doubt that this policy will act as a social leveler and make a yet larger distance in terms of wealth between the 'prosperous' working classes/middle classes and the poor. On this level, Monsieur Sarkozy's policy of tax-free overtime pay is only justifiable in the case of full employment.

Is it not about time that politicians and political parties moved away from religion. Whilst religion was a good thing many centuries ago as it encouraged many basic principles that humans should abide by to live in peace and harmony in todays context it has no place in reality. Before the major religions came about there were many different beliefs just as there are so many now. All religion is based on fear and the unknown and has been written and re written by those with a vested interest in maintaining power and direction over humans. The damage caused by religions to humans over the ages is a historical fact and is an outrage of the present world. To beleive in something so utterly unfactual and impossible will always give extremist politicians and religions an excuse for their own corruption and destructive policies. If religions were made to stand up in court and put their case in a fair world and court they would be unproven and not have a case at all. Aspects and ideologies of religion should come about by heart felt goodness and not by deviances of the mind. For world leaders to stand up and aclaim religion is to show the masses that anything goes and that the world is still a mad existance. With the majority of the UK not even bothering to go to church unless it is for a hypercritical wedding, or baptism does this not show the relevance of religion in the UK and to the people. To see major people in authority going to church leads to many not beleiving in their future or even the worlds future. Religion was and still is about one world and one people but with so many variences trying and wanting to dominate the world, for the sake of human survival it should be left behind in the past and reflected upon factually as good and bad in the evolution of humans. Morality is not unique to religions for there are many more unreligious people with higher morals than religious. If we had proper and real basic human rights written into a constitution and politicians followed them then this would go some way to putting a bit more belief into the futures of UK citizens. The world is such a different place with such change that for the sake of humanity religion also has to change into something that is relevent to the masses. Religion has changed from having hundreds of gods into having one, knowledge and mass destruction changed it hand in hand, do religions really want to repeat this for that is the enevitability of the future, do not deceive yourselves because this is the feeling of the majority of world populations. Hitler along with many other historic figures have tried to re-write history and the future, unless political parties start to mend their ways and be truely realistic including stepping aside from religion then all that is being done is to tread water until the enevitable drowning

I like what you write but, the book is of Prophets and Saints, which means the words cannot be underwritten by man. The feeling in the writing is the true faith by the Holy spirit, this ought to be what society has faith in en mass.

The fundamental basis for a safe society is morality and not law. It's all well an good all this talk about "zero tolerance" "harder prison sentences" an all the rest of the things polliticians and spin doctors like to throw at us but if a person dose not believe and understand from a young age the differance between right and wrong and the reason why they are right and wrong then law is only about protecting property etc.. through the threat of punishment. Morality how ever is based on your own conscience ie. a person would not rob a house as they realise the person who own's that house has worked for his possesions and most of those possesions are not just property but part of that persons life. He would also realise that by entering that house they have violated someones space and made them feel unsafe in their own home. If you've ever spoke to some one that has ever done any thing like that they have the atitude 'well their insured' or 'their rich' they have no concept of the fact that most people both rich and poor have worked hard for the things they have and those things are not just property but part of their life. What i'm saying is that unless a person dose not feel that what there doing is wrong then you could threaten them with hanging and they will still act the way they do.

Considering the 'New testament' especialy 'Mathew 23', maybe other verses in the old testamemt 'Habbakuk', is it really some enormous dream to sort society out with these overtones. Is the government really serious that they can overlook religious faith, even the very streams of the terrorist, when does dialogue actually work for the masses.?? Duncan

Duncan can u explain the above and what bearing it has on the subject.

You can read 'Mathew 23' and 'Habakkuk', they are both about society and crimes. Does the Prime Minister think that any communty can really function with 'one in four' having a personal mental health problem at any one time, today in the modern world. Does 'Habakkuk' as a prophet and probable 'Saint' mean anything to those who read it, including government ministers??

We, s.u.s.t.c, wish to voice our objections to the new government policy of once again making cannabis a class B substance. We would like you to remember the reasons that cannabis was made a class c drug. We do not wish the many people who use cannabis to be criminalised, a criminal record or criminal proceedings can also damage a person’s life and health. I am very happy for certain member's of parliament who seem to have managed to avoid prosecution despite the fact they have admitted possession of cannabis. I wonder how their career would have gone had they of been prosecuted. Do they think it would have been right for them to have not been able to make their way in the world as they had a conviction for drugs and/or a prison sentence, a fine? Why do they think they are a cut above the rest of us and a simple statement of I think it was wrong for me to have done so will suffice. Maybe a better course of action in today’s Britain would be to make alcohol a class B substance in line with the chaos and negative health effects that it causes. People are more likely to come forward if a substance is of a lower category so is it not a possibility that cannabis is causing the same level of mental illness but now users are more likely to state that they have previously used cannabis when they come into contact with health services. Also, it is ridiculous to say now there are stronger forms of the substance that it should be a class b again. The substance as a whole was made a class c; surely the strength of it was taken into account when this decision was made. Many substances become more dangerous than cannabis when taken in large amounts e.g sleeping tablets, paracetamol, and alcohol. It is ridiculous to once again confuse the public. It would be a much better idea to put the money into more education in schools and communities, build more services, build more service user groups so the government can more easily contact the people on the ground not the staff but the actual people who use these substances. Why is the war on 'druggies' always used as a way to look tough on crime by the government? Anybody with any education knows that this is just a cop out by the government to avoid actually having to help anybody or provide services and education. We are not fooled. We, the substance users would like more help for people on substances. Can I point out the massive drop in crime that some areas have had simply by providing a service which prescribes opiate substitute medication (methadone) to opiate dependant substance users. We, the educated or simply sensible, are not fooled by a war on 'druggies'. And we do not wish to deny anybody their freedom simply for needing help for a substance problem. It cannot be said that the community do not want these 'drug dealers' in their areas; the people living in an area are the community. Simply put these substance suppliers and users are part of the community, these substance users are your daughters, your sons, your Aunties and your next door neighbours. We personally do not want our community in prison or alienated, disenfranchised, marginalised or unable to gain employment. It is about time communities learnt to own their own problems. I am sure this is known as community ownership. It makes us sick to read in the sun that 'Home Secretary Jacqui Smith "will be asking the public to comment on .... new ways which we can support communities wishing to chase out drug dealers" '(The Sun, 19/07/2007, Pg11, Give Pot the Push by C. Cooper). I would very much like to chase out my neighbours who drive massive gas gusling cars or pave over their gardens. Unfortunately, you cannot and should not be able to or encouraged to chase out your community for their own personal choices. Love thy neighbour. If my neighbour asked me for a cup of sugar I would give it to them. I would also like to be able to guarantee them a cup of methadone if they needed it; it costs about the same amount. Especially as often sugar is not requested to go with it. The same with cannabis. We want to allow people to make their own informed decisions about their own lives and be there to pick up the pieces if need be. This was only supposed to be a short comment. We look forward to being approached for our opinion when this supposed comment speaking starts and we hope to encounter less discrimination than is normally dished out to substance users especially by papers such as the Sun. We seriously hate to see so many victims of serious crimes end up in prison for crimes known as victimless. So man y people turn to substances for comfort after abuse, rape, bereavement, etc. Are they criminals for adding a substance to their own bodies? We do not believe so. It is the so called nannie state gone mad. We wish the Labour Party well. Yours faithfully, Some subjects of this country who live in an area desperately in need of more detox and rehabilitation places, more after care, more harm reduction and half it's community. Who volunteer for a group called The Service User's Steps Towards Change.

testing... testing

i'm not being silly, its just for some reason i couldn't type messages but its fine now

Whilst I agree with more cctv, not all on benefits are scum! I myself suffer depression and a stress related mental ilness yet do not go around causing trouble or committing crime, and I would give my right arm to be back working in computers on £30k a year like I was on in 1992! The real trouble with society cannot be blamed on any group, it is really the shift in discipline over the last 30 years that is to blame! Kids grow up with no respect for anything, and each new generation is adding to this problem. Bring back the cane in schools for a start - instead of having teachers cowering in classes! Bring in 24hr automatic detention in police cells, for kids as young as 10 years old, then maybe the police will have respect! And if my previous note re police corruption could be addressed then I would say bring back hanging - and for terrorists, a little bit of drawing and quartering aswell, with the after thought of feeding their bodies to pigs and expelling from this country any relatives living here from abroad so that their actions affect their own spouse! Terrorism should be treated as treason and executions should take place! But sort out police and legal corruption first!

I agree with everything you have said about the cane and being more strict 100% BUT back to the benefits, I dont mean everyone on benefits is scum but the younger ones on dole doing nothing all day but walking around in track suits and drinking cider should be in work. But even older people take the cake. These older (meaning 25+) people dont cause no trouble, they just DO WHAT THEY WANT ALL DAY ON MY MONEY. Heck I feel depressed sometimes but I get up and go to work?! I dont think your depression excuse would of helped you back in the day, where you had to work to eat. There is older people who get to do what they want all day on my tax money, whilst I and millions of others have to spend 40 hours + a week working? If you are well enough to sit at a computer and type, you seem well enough to get a job to me. I feel depressed, I dont think I can type anymore. You just relax and do what you want Adrian, Wake up and dont go to work, have a nice bit of breakfast in the morning, relax all day and watch telly. You dont have to worry about work related stress or bills and tax returns. This country is turning into a joke.

As long as local police forces can decide if they will or will not investigate complaints about them, especially involving corruption and malpractice, I will not vote for labour.

and gordon brown has done well starting a argument with russia over a man who wasnt even english asking for a man to be extradited while we house ex terrosists from russia and other people they want extradited why should russia extradite this man when they have asked for citezens of there country to to extradited and england have refused wake up smell the coffee

The man the Russians want is an oligarch who fled Russia with Billions of dollars of money that should realy be benefitting he Russian people. He has been granted asylum by Labour cronies who are happy to help him as he is a big party funder. Why do the Russians want him? Basically not only is he guilty of massive fraud and theft from the Russian people, he is also OPENLY funding groups which he admits are trying to violently overthow the democratically elected Russian government. He's a sociopathic Neo-Conservative thief who's being protected by NuLabour while he tries to overthrow a socialist leaning government. I'm supprised they haven't given him a peerage, he's ideally qualified.

... that profanity filter... peerage is P EERAGE.

empower the community the community leave in a diffrent world to the government and always will do when are we ever listened to why start now is because of all the drama on the news about billionares donating money to the poor as the government expect them to live on a pittance the government could start by investing in its own country instead of worrying about africa and other places

you need to start from the top down to prove to people you want to stop crime ie mps mr howard would be a start(haase bakeman)and any other mps that have stuff to hide

If you get rid of all the crooks from Parliment and the House-Of-Lords it's goin to be very quiet in there.

100 million windfall to sports, is this the 100 million he took away last year from all sports funding given by the lottery, oh of course it is. so again no new money. God you have to watch these people, I also volunteer in fact I am a Football coach for disabled schools my roll as a disabled person is to take kids who have never ever played any sport and allow them to take part in football Cricket Rugby and to do this I get paid the grand sum of money zero. I have to buy my own equipment, insurance pay my own petrol and even look for funding to play games against other teams, last year after a fight to get Ten footballs my councils sports disability unit, then to hire a hall to allow kids to play football, I was sacked, the reason given, none. Thankfully the schools decided to ask me to keep on coaching, we have won two regional finals for the first time ever, but I stopped last week because my wife said enough your paying for equipment with money we need to live. Do not forget last year Labour cut all sports funding to all sports to pay for the great Olympic games, now they have had a change of heart and given back the money, but they said it's new money bull.

I undestand that Gordon Brown has announced 100 Million investment into sports for children at school. I think this is great but have the following comment to make, which should be read with the understanding that I have worked with children as a volunteer for over 25 years. Please please please invest this money promoting sports that children won't be exposed to already. In my experience any sport will only appeal to a percentage of the population e.g only 16% of 0ver 16's participate in Football despite the fact that over 99% would have had the opportunity to do so (Sport England Survey 2006). If every child/adult tried a more diverse number of sports then the participation level would be far higher. Please dont squander this money on more and more of the sports that children can easily gain access to anyway (except of course in deprived areas). I have seen children from priviliged backgrounds in teams from priviledged backgrounds in Football strip supported by Sport England when clearly their parents would have paid for the kit anyway! I think that Schools should be targeted on the number of different sports that the children sample.

Why do the labour party keep saying things they do not mean. why do they say they want to give power back to local community when they quite clearly are giving it away to europe. The reason as far as i'm concerned is so that when things go wrong they can blame some one else. Labour as a government have been extremely weak and are compleatly out of touch with the country and real life. The country want to see power going back to local community. It's all well an good the wrighting above speaking of devolution and the glossey picture with the logo reading 'stronger,safer communites' and then like with everything else labour say's going and doing exactley the opposite. Labour need to get a back bone an stop hiding behind europe all the time.

They have no intention of devolving any real power whatsoever. One should judge these people by their previous actions where power has been increasingly centralised and we now live in a country that is ruled by decree rather than by consultation and debate; I offer examples such as plans to track and monitor us in our cars, handing over of schools to private business people who donate to the party, enforced collection of our DNA and the extent of the recent smoking ban even in pubs that do not serve food or are willing to make separate provision and I am sure that we can all think of other instances of law through decree on the part of the party. Particularly worrying is the way that the House of Lords has been whittled down and is now so easily overridden by the lower house. The impression that was given earlier on in the party’s reign of power was that it was to be transformed into a proper senate along the lines of other democracies such as the US or on the Continent. By nature, a Senate or Upper House is less party orientated and able to deliberate upon whether a bill from the lower house meets the requirements of a democratic constitution and has the power to veto a bill that does not. For me, an effective senate is a pre-requisite of a properly functioning government and can also act as an effective bulwark against irresponsible government and the gradual erosion of the rights of the citizen through stealth which is exactly what is happening in today’s Britain under the party. Instead of giving us a proper Senate, we find ourselves in a constitutional half way house whereby the authority of the non democratic House of Lords has been reduced, but no proper upper house has been put in its place. And isn’t it mighty beneficial for those politicians who wish to see less accountability to central government and who wish to reduce the influence of any other body that will scrutinise the constitutionality and legality of a bill? I am convinced that they like it so much that we will never have a proper senate in this country as promised. The present status quo is so convenient for bringing through questionable laws that infringe upon our freedoms with little or no debate in the upper chamber. At the end of the day, why let boring, dry old concepts such as due procedure and constitutionality get in the way of wonderful new Labour?

You know the problem the like's of me an you have simon emil. If you could explain that in one sentance then people would under stand and would see what was happening to the country and could understand the importance of a second house with an unelected body in keeping a democracy.

I wish I could, Roland. I found what I have just written difficult to frame into words and I know it is not a brilliant piece of wrting by any means. Another trouble is that concepts such as the need for an effective senate, the impartiality of the civil service and a constitutional council are difficult to put into a sound bite and I fear that this fact suits New Labour just fine.

Would like to say well done to gordon brown over the u turn on the supper casino that is the first decent thing the labour party have done since they got in. I don't feel we need that kind of gutter trash in this country.

I hate to burst your bubble, but they haven't scrapped the plans, they just decided that they didn't like the idea of it being in a rundown part of Manchester. They'de rather have it in central london, to push up land prices, or in Scotland, to help Browns chums out.

Oh well thought they might have got 1 thing right obviously not.

A few years ago, there was a visit by certain labour politicians to Las Vegas to discuss terms and conditions of gambling businessmen running casinos in the UK. Unbelievable, especially in the light that so much of this business area is only a few steps removed (at best) from organised crime and that some of the casinos have very close mafia connections and is a popular way of laundering money.

I love the way they say that Gambling benefits the community bring in jobs and tax money... yes I get that but is sucks huge quantities of money OUT of the economy which goes to big american casino owners and shareholders. Casinos take money from lots of people, usually vulnerabe people who can least afford it, and splits it between professional, skilled gamblers and the casinos owners. It's kinda like Robin Hood, but in reverse. Our country is turning into a den of crime, gambling and vice. It's like an apocolyptic 1990's scifi of how the world would look in 2010. I'm almost ashamed to be british.

It's a sad day when the only way a government think's it can raise extra revenue is by getting the people of this country to gamble away their earnings.

It is tragic that a party with a solid background of looking after ordinary people could be hijacked by idiots whose world vision comes from a marketing department. I can remeber a day when I voted for Labour with a sense of pride in my heart. never again.

No you right develoution does not stop at the Town hall most everything else does though, you try speaking to anyone at your local town hall and you soon relize Hitlers family is alive and well. The problem is what you see as a community most os seen as being a dump, I mean I did njot go to Uni did not sit around someing dope and singing about revolution, we lived in the sink hole estates which still are falling to bits. You went around putting in a new bath a new shower and new windows, but you dod nothing about the community. I am disabled people come to me to ask about help filling forms, getting benenfits, or if they have problems with housing. I helped a 85 year old couple get into a rest home since she was dying it took 120 letters to social service, it took 35 letters to my MP, I had to contact the Police because the NHS said nothing to do with them. In the end he tried to kill his wife with a pillow he was arrested , social service turned up and sais we knew nothing, police turned up and said yes you did, the NHS said nothing to do with them. Then one day we walked out to go to to a dinner with a chest full of medals, I asked him hwere he got them from, oh Rob we had this for dropping behind enamy lines to stop the Germans blowing up the bridges before D day, out comes his wife with a chest full of medals I said god what did you get those for

The government wants to give more control and choice about their community to the people? Well how about giving local people the choice to have CCTV installed or bus prices reduced if their too expensive? I live in South Northumberland and I have asked the council about installing CCTV in areas which attacks have happened, and I've been fobbed off to the police who have done nothing. I also asked the council why they allow Arriva bus service to charge us stupid prices just to travel very short distances and I was told they have no control over it. Our local council also has a habbit of building shops that NO body wants, and sticking round-abouts into tiny roads that just cause chaos. They build big fancy stone signs showing the town name, when they could spend the money on better things. They spend £1000s building a new council building in the town center which we dont really need. They allow the local shopping center to expand and great space for more shops, which no body buys and they sit there empty for years. Its all well and good giving control to the people, but unless their local councils back them up, nothing will get done.

Bet theirs plenty of cctv round their new council building.

I'm not sure about that, but it is very shiny and modern and has big windows around it. It sticks out like a saw thumb where it is, because the surrounding buildings are made of old red brick and follow this "old country village" look. You can tell where all the budget went!!

I agree with Simon, the money is wasted