Margaret Mullane, Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Dagenham and Rainham, has spoken out following Keir Starmer’s speech on his priority of tackling crime and disorder.

Margaret commented: “I strongly welcome the commitment from Keir Starmer to bring about the actions to make our streets and communities safe. We have seen too many instances of horrific violent crimes in Barking & Dagenham and Havering in recent times.”

Margaret went on to say: “Labour will use every lever available to tackle violence against women and girls, from education, police, community services and online regulation. We’ve all got to be committed to rooting out the causes and handling the consequences of violence against women and girls.

Any decent society cannot have the rates of violence against women and girls that we now see – with the number of rapes and sexual offences reported at a record high, while the charge rate is only 1.6%. Labour and I am committed to halving the levels of violence against women and girls across the UK in the next decade, ending the fear women feel.

Our system of policing is built on consent from our communities and that is dependent on people’s confidence and trust in our police service. This trust has been dented in recent years and a priority for me is to see that trust rebuilt. Labour’s plans to restore neighbourhood policing with 13,000 new neighbourhood police, with mandatory patrols of town centres by dedicated officers will go a long way in helping.”