One of the oddest achievements of the Labour Government has been to create a record 1,000 new criminal offences since it was elected in 1997.

I have found no one who feels safer as a result. Most of them are regulatory and have added to the burden of interference that has been imposed on the generally law abiding.

The Conservative Party believes that the best way of reducing crime is to introduce neighbourhood policing on the model found in the United States. This is why we intend to recruit 40,000 more police officers over eight years to deliver this service in every neighbourhood.

Because I have directly worked on this policy, I am convinced it offers a better future for crime reduction, particularly when taken with our policies to provide effective punishment and rehabilitation of young offenders and ensure that prison sentences are served without early release.