Latest news with #lawandorder
Fox News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Former LA County sheriff announces bid to reclaim seat after party switch
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva outlines his vision to restore the city's law and order on 'Fox & Friends First.'
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Only Nigel Farage benefits from another ‘summer of riots'
"We must not let Reform dominate the summer," Kemi Badenoch told Conservative MPs in an end-of-term pep talk. True, she grabbed some headlines with a limited shadow cabinet reshuffle, but so far, Reform UK is dominating the summer. Other carefully constructed Tory initiatives go largely unreported, to the party's frustration, while Nigel Farage makes news with that smirk or by raising an eyebrow. He is now widening his pitch beyond immigration, which he has banked as a vote-winner, and will campaign on law and order over the summer. His pledge to halve crime at a cost of £17bn doesn't add up. But it still garnered positive headlines; Reform is judged by different standards to rival parties. It is now seen as the best party on handling law and order. Farage got lucky with his timing. Yesterday's Daily Mail front page, on his crime campaign, was manna from heaven: 'Britain is facing societal collapse, warns Farage.' His backing of the protests outside an asylum hotel in Epping, Essex – and his dismissal of those arrested as 'a few bad eggs' – might have been attacked by other parties in normal times. But deputy prime minister Angela Rayner made a highly significant intervention at yesterday's cabinet meeting, warning that Britain could face a repeat of the riots almost a year ago unless the government addresses people's concerns, and that immigration is having 'a profound impact on society'. It seemed to validate Farage's warning of 'civil disobedience on a vast scale', and sparking fears of another summer of violence. Downing Street's briefings on cabinet meetings are normally as dry as dust. Its release of the deputy prime minister's remarks tells us that the government does not want to look flat-flooted and not 'in control' if there is more civil unrest this summer. Nor can Labour allow Farage a monopoly on proposals to crack down on illegal migration. Hence today's announcement of a deal between the government and food delivery companies to tackle hotspots of illegal working, sometimes near asylum hotels. 'This is a pull factor for migrants crossing the Channel,' one government insider admitted. On other issues, Reform has been less lucky. It sometimes shoots from the lip without thinking things through. Richard Tice, its deputy leader, sent shockwaves through industry by suggesting the party would scrap renewable energy contracts if it wins power, before half-retreating and saying a Reform government would oppose 'any form of variation' to the contracts. Labour warned that one million jobs would be at risk from Reform's plan. Tice temporarily forgot his party's pitch to the red wall: left on economics and right on social issues. He appeared to translate people's concerns about the cost to them of net zero measures like heat pumps and electric cars into opposition to climate change measures. In fact, a majority of Reform supporters back policies to combat climate change. With Reform consistently ahead in the opinion polls, the business world must take Farage seriously as a future prime minister, but its attempts to engage with his party are proving difficult. Business wants to know about Reform's policies, but the party has no formal policy-making process. As with his pal Donald Trump, policy seems to be whatever Farage thinks when he wakes up in the morning or announces on the hoof. "Policy is what Farage says – everything is decided by him," one business figure told me. 'It's hard to work out what is just another headline and a serious policy.' Farage has started to hold business round-tables. "Everyone gets a bit p***ed, but we don't learn much," another company executive said. How will Reform deliver its pledge to raise the personal tax allowance from £12,570 to £20,000 at a cost of between £50bn and £80bn? We don't know. Will this promise survive a rigorous policy process than the grown-ups in Reform know the party needs? Such fantasy economics, based on deep spending cuts – with Reform sometimes pledging to spend the same billions of savings more than once – are Farage's Achilles heel. That's what other parties should target. "Farage is a vibe," one minister said, 'it's hard to attack a vibe.' But the other parties need to find a way. For now, many voters are not bothered about whether Reform's sums add up. The public will have a free hit at next May's elections to English local authorities, including London and Birmingham, and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. That is bad news for both Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch, whose leadership will come under pressure if their parties do badly, as they probably will. But voters will care about the detail of Reform's economic pitch when they come to choose a government at the next general election. A vibe will not be enough.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tim O'Hare announces reelection bid for Tarrant County judge
Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare announced Tuesday he plans to run for reelection next year. 'Today, I launched my bid for reelection,' he said in a post on X. 'Since taking office in 2023, I have led the charge to restore limited government, cut property taxes, support law and order, and uphold Tarrant County family values.' He linked to his campaign website for those who want to endorse, donate or sign up for updates. 'Together, we changed the direction of Tarrant County,' he said. 'I'd be honored to have your support again.' During his term as county judge, O'Hare has lowered the county's property tax rate, raised the homestead exemption to the maximum possible and increased law enforcement officers' salaries, among other actions. His tenure has also been plagued with controversy. A Star-Telegram investigation from August 2024 found O'Hare had 'scripted' the agenda items that resulted in sweeping changes to the way the Tarrant Appraisal District values property in the county. His attempt to eliminate early voting sites on majority-minority college campuses during the 2024 election season foundered. He scored a win, however, in June, when the Commissioners Court approved a rare mid-decade redistricting of the county precincts in a party-line vote. Voting and constitutional law experts said the redistricting was an illegal racial gerrymander. Precinct 3 Commissioner Matt Krause, a Republican from Keller, called O'Hare's announcement 'great news' for Tarrant County. 'He has delivered on campaign promise after campaign promise that he made when running for the job in 2022,' Krause said in an emailed statement. 'He has been one of the most effective County Judges in the state during his first term, and Tarrant County is better for it. I am delighted to support his re-election bid.' The Star-Telegram reached out to the other county commissioners and Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French for comment, but did not receive immediate responses. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Solve the daily Crossword
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Female officers crucial to policing, says chief after ‘diminishing' comments by Reform MP
Police chiefs have criticised Reform UK's 'diminishing' of female police officers, when, during its launch of law and order policies, it said women should patrol only with a 'big, strapping' male constable. On Monday the rightwing party tried to establish itself as the party of law and order but Sarah Pochin, its justice spokesperson, said she did not like seeing two women together on patrol. Gavin Stephens, the chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, hit back at the claims by saying that female officers were 'critical' to tackling crime. Stephens said: 'There are an increasing number of women who choose a career in policing, bringing with them vital skills and experience that are critical to the progress of policing, our role in society, and keeping the public safe. 'Over a third of our officers and around 40% of our chief constables are women, and we must not jeopardise our progress by diminishing the value and role women play in our workforce. 'There are no roles in policing which women cannot do, and the same exacting standards to qualify are met by all men and women who undertake some of the most challenging tasks of any profession. 'We celebrate that women have an essential and irreplaceable role in every aspect of policing across the United Kingdom; policing is at its best when it represents the communities it serves, and our priority continues to be making policing a career where anyone can thrive and make a difference.' Launching a suite of promises on law and order on Monday, Reform;s leader, Nigel Farage, said that criminals should 'slightly fear the police', adding 'that is a desirable place for us to be as a society'. Later Pochin, Reform's justice spokesperson who is also the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, told the BBC 'I never feel comfortable actually seeing two female officers together. I'd much rather see a great big strapping male police officer with a female.' She added that women police officers 'look vulnerable' and should be deployed to 'more sensitive situations', such as dealing with children or women who have suffered from domestic violence. One chief constable told the Guardian that not just chiefs were annoyed, but rank-and-file officers also: 'It takes us back 30 years, and it has annoyed my work force as well. To suggest women officers are not equal because they are not of a certain size and shape, is a disservice.' The chief said physical confrontation was nowadays a 'minuscule' part of the job and women were also more likely to make an arrest without the need for force. Reform UK also pledged 30,000 more officers, costing an estimated £2bn. The chief said that up to 40% of new recruits were women, and that Reform's comments would deter women from joining if the party was looking to boost police numbers.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
You're right to feel crime is spiralling out of control
There are lies, damn lies, and the Office for National Statistics. That is, of course, if you don't trust the crime stats coming out of the ONS, the nation's collector of stats about all manner of subjects. I am one of them. There is a pervasive sense that Britain is going fast off the rails, and the sense that law and order has broken down creeps into everyday conversation. Balaclava-clad hoodlums nab dozens of phones a day. Foreign paedophiles avoid deportation while young mums get imprisoned for mean Facebook posts. Academics and politicians (Nigel Farage, following on from the Conservative shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Alex Burghart) warn about the threat of widespread civil conflict. And yet, Fraser Nelson, formerly of this parish, patiently shares the official crime survey statistics from the ONS that show a steep decline over the past 20 years. Theft, violence, even neighbourhood crimes have more than halved, with total reported crimes at over 12 million in 2005, now dropping to less than 6 million in 2024. That crimewave in full... — Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) July 21, 2025 What to do when the anecdotes, or the 'vibes' as the kids say these days, clash with the evidence? Should we just trust the nation's stats maestros, and ignore the impending sense of doom that feels all around us? Jeff Bezos, the genius behind Amazon, has a very useful heuristic for this sort of question: 'The thing I have noticed is when the anecdotes and the data disagree, the anecdotes are usually right. There's something wrong with the way you are measuring it.' With this insight in mind, Adam Wren (an inspiring campaigner behind fundraising to pay for court transcripts in the Pakistani rape gang cases) has interrogated the data. In a thread on X, he systematically dismantles much of the methodology behind the ONS's work. Wren points out that the official crime survey uses 'super output areas' which are areas defined to have roughly equal population sizes. This is to normalise outputs and be stable across time. Wren explains that whilst this might work for other types of statistical reporting, such as heart attacks (which might be expected to be more uniform) crime tends to be focused on some specific geography. Indeed, he says that: '80 per cent of crime in any given area will occur on certain streets or hotspots like pubs, trains or bus stations.' According to Wren, the ONS data doesn't even measure crimes against businesses, shoplifting, or criminal damage, despite every small supermarket in London pushing both its staff and its produce behind horrible plastic barriers to prevent more crimes. It is in these areas where Britain has seen an explosion of vicious, senseless violence and other offences. So it would be a mistake to fixate on whether crime has 'gone up' or 'gone down'. It doesn't matter how safe you feel if you live your life in a peaceful, lovely village 364 days a year, but on the one occasion you go to a big city to visit a theatre or restaurant your phone is nicked and some recent arrival threatens you with a zombie knife. If I had to put my finger on it, I put a lot of the dread down to the changing nature of violence in Britain in the 21st century. Back in the day, you were much more likely to get punched in the pub. But you also knew that you were going to that sort of place and that certain behaviour would lead to a fight. You might even want that. If you didn't want to get into a fight, you just went to a different pub. And because it was rules-based within communities, people knew where the line was and that line was socially policed. That kind of social violence has now largely disappeared, replaced by: 'maybe I'll get stabbed for asking someone to put headphones on'. The violence we see now in Britain is more arbitrary, more random, and more spontaneous. Westminster is always the last to see social trends. But the febrile scenes from Southport and Ballymena to Epping – not to mention unreported crimes – will eventually make themselves known, even if politicians don't want to see it.
