- Antony Higginbotham MP spoke in the Parliamentary debate on Safe Streets for All
- He praised the police and backed the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is progressing through Parliament.
Local MP Antony Higginbotham spoke in the debate on Safer Streets that took place as part of the Queens Speech debates taking place in Parliament this week.
Praising the work of local Police officers and PCSOs in Burnley and Padiham he also congratulated the new Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden who he said “has the drive, passion and determination to tackle the issues that matter most to residents”.
Speaking in the debate Antony Higginbotham MP said:
There is so much in the Queen’s Speech for us to be optimistic and pleased about. I am privileged to be a member of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Public Bill Committee, which starts in earnest tomorrow. The Bill is particularly welcome. I have yet to meet anyone who thinks we should continue with the automatic release of violent and sexual offenders halfway through their sentence. Not a single person has told me that they think that is a good idea.
Our emergency service workers—we have stood up in this House and praised them time and again—deserve the protections that we can offer them, so doubling the sentence for people who assault them is welcome. However, as my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates) said, we also need to focus on the more bread-and-butter crimes: the rural crime issues that I just spoke about and which our PCC is looking at, such as speeding cars on our roads and fly-tipping on our country lanes. That is what our residents want us to be focused on, because that is what blights our communities.
Antony Higginbotham MP is currently sitting on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill Committee, which will be scrutinising the new piece of legislation before it comes into force.
Commenting after the debate he added:
We need to focus on issues that residents care about and that’s exactly what I raised in Parliament last night. I was elected on a promise to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and am looking forward to working with our new PCC Andew Snowden to achieve just that.
More police officers on our streets and a tougher approach to crime, making sure that the sentence fits the crime.
