Labour's Keir Starmer pledges 'tough action' on anti-social behaviour during Reading visit
The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has highlighted the party's plans to tackle anti-social behaviour in Britain's towns and cities during a visit to Reading, Berkshire.
Keir Starmer joined a graffiti clean-up crew before speaking to local residents affected by anti-social behaviour vowing to take "tough action on yobs terrorising our streets" and "bring respect back to Britain".
The Labour Party has pledged 13,000 extra neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs as part of its Community Policing Guarantee.
The extra officers would patrol anti-social behaviour hotspots in town centres across the country.
Sir Keir Starmer told ITV News Meridian's Matt Teale it's time to "take anti-social behaviour seriously"
Respect orders would ban repeat adult offenders from the problem areas, forcing them to clean up their local area.
Starmer has also vowed to create zero tolerance zones for anti-social behaviour preventing street drinking, harassment and littering.
Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, said: "Respect is something I care deeply about. I served as Chief Prosecutor for five years because I believe those who respect the law must be protected, victims must get justice and those who flout the law must carry the consequences."
Labour's Community Policing Guarantee also pledges to create a national register of private landlords, to deal with landlords failing to tackle anti-social behaviour in their rented properties.
There would be a statutory duty for local partners to cooperate to tackle anti-social behaviour as well as national guidelines for local authorities and police forces on data collection.
Town centre policing plans would be developed in consultation with the local community, with local residents and retailers involved in agreeing priorities for police in town centres, giving local people a say in how their local area is policed.
Sir Keir Starmer spoke to workers from Reading Borough Council who are regularly tackling graffiti
When questioned about Labour's plans for the healthcare system, Starmer said: "We've got a plan to get rid of the non-dom tax status, that's the way in which wealthy people don't pay their tax in this country, I don't agree with that.
"We'd use that money to put in place two million appointments every year and drive down that waiting list.
"The other thing is a plan for 700,000 urgent NHS dentist appointments because everywhere I go people say they can't get hold of a dentist.
"I'm leading from the front, and I'm pleased to be leading from the front, out and about across the country, I much prefer this to being in Parliament.
ITV News Meridian's Sangeeta Bhabra asked people living in Reading what they want to see from the next government
"We've come from a terrible defeat in 2019, to a position where we're credible contenders into 2024 for hope and change the country needs. That's taken a lot of hard work.
"The Labour Party now is a different party, a completely changed party, from the party we were just four years ago.
"So I've shown that I can change the party, what I now want to do is show that I can change the country and give people, I think what they most want, which is hope and change for the future."
The current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he is working towards a general election in the second half of the year.
During a visit to a youth centre earlier this month in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, the Prime Minister said: "So my working assumption is we’ll have a general election in the second half of this year and in the meantime I’ve got lots that I want to get on with."
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