"Time for proper debate on law and order" - PM
23 June 2006
We need to look beyond the headlines to build a consensus on how to deal with problems of crime, immigration and security, Tony Blair has said.
A proper, considered debate is needed, which returns to "first principles" unconnected to the "convulsion of the issue of the moment."
The PM also stressed that unless there was a "rebalancing of the system" there would continue to be a conflict between protecting suspects and the rights of the law-abiding majority.
In a wide-ranging lecture delivered in Bristol, the first in a series under the banner of Our Nation's Future, the PM said problems with crime were connected to globalisation.
"Prosperity means most people have something worth stealing. Drugs means more people are prepared to steal. Organised crime trafficks in drugs and people make money."
And the criminal justice system was not built for this changing world, but for another age, leaving us fighting 21st century problems with 19th century solutions.
- Read the PM's speech in full
- Watch the lecture in Windows Media Player (opens in new window)
- Watch the lecture in Real Player (opens in new window)
Mr Blair went on:
"I have come to the conclusion that part of the problem in this whole area has been the absence of a proper, considered and intellectual debate about the nature of liberty in the modern world.
"I believe we can get to a sensible, serious and effective answer to these issues and build a consensus in favour of them. But we can't do it unless the argument is won at a far more fundamental level than hitherto."
Browse some background papers to the lecture
The PM referred to an article he wrote on the "climate of violence" for The Times in 1988.
In preparation for the lecture, a panel of experts wrote papers which offered Mr Blair an insight into different opinions and ideas on the best way forward.
We also have a number of case studies of innovative projects which are helping to shape the 21st century justice system.
