Labour to bring in 'respect orders' in street crime crackdown

The new court orders will be rolled out from 2025 and ban the most prolific anti-social offenders from town centres.

Alix Culbertson

Political reporter

Tuesday 24 September 2024 11:37, UK

The government will bring in a raft of "respect orders" to crack down on anti-social behaviour, the home secretary has said.

Yvette Cooper, speaking at Labour's conference in Liverpool, called the previous Conservative government "right-wing wreckers" as she lumped them in "with their mates in Reform".

She said the Tories have "nothing to offer but fear, division and anger" as she put her government forward as championing "respect and the rule of law.

The home secretary made no new announcements but reiterated policies announced during the King's Speech shortly after they came into government in July, as well as some they have chosen to continue from the Tories.

One of the key policies is a crackdown on anti-social behaviour, with "respect orders" that would ban persistent street drinkers, drug users or shoplifters from town centres.

A phased roll out will begin in 2025, and while the orders can be issued by a civil court to speed up the process, breaching one will be a criminal offence.

Ms Cooper announced a "new law" on assaults on shop workers, however, this had already been announced by the Conservative government in April.

She also reiterated Labour's manifesto pledge to introduce 13,000 additional police and PCSOs, with guaranteed local patrols, and a taskforce to tackle robberies carried out with knives.

"We know that security is the bedrock on which communities can come together, and on which the opportunities Labour has always fought for are built," she will tell the conference. "You don't get social justice if you don't have justice.

"Respect is the very foundation of our democracy. Those Labour values are at the heart of all we do. And they are at the heart of our mission for safer streets."

She promised to halve knife crime in a decade and said ninja swords will be banned after a mother whose son was killed by a teenager who stabbed him with a ninja sword introduced Ms Cooper to the conference hall.

A ban on zombie knives and machetes was introduced by the former government and came into law today, but ninja swords had not been included in the ban.

And Ms Cooper said there would be a crackdown on online sales of dangerous knives after previously saying Labour would introduce "strict sanctions" on senior executives of online companies illegally selling knives.

Ms Cooper also promised to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, saying: "Because we cannot and we will not let the next generation of women and girls face the same violence as the last.

"Our daughters deserve better than this."

She spoke about policies she recently announced, including having domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and overhauling domestic abuse protection orders as well as tightening laws on drink spiking.

The home secretary also referenced the changes Labour has made to tackle illegal immigration since coming into government, including setting up the Border Security Command to "smash the gangs" bringing migrants over on small boats.

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