The next Conservative Government will restore visible policing and clear consequences for the anti-social behaviour and street disorder that are making too many communities feel unsafe.
As a result Essex police would benefit from 303 new police officers, delivering law and order with stronger powers.
Britain has become measurably more disorderly. People see cannabis being smoked openly, watch shoplifters walk out of stores with no fear, dodge illegal e-scooters and high-powered e-bikes on pavements, live with graffiti, intimidation, and public disorder as the background noise of daily life. It feels like the rules are optional for the few, while the law-abiding majority are left to put up with the consequences.
The Conservative Party’s plan to take back our streets focuses on restoring order, supporting the police to act decisively, and ensuring that visible rule-breaking no longer goes unchallenged. The plan has eight core measures. Conservatives will:
1. Recruit 10,000 extra police officers and deploy hotspot patrolling across the 2,000 highest-crime neighbourhoods.
2. Triple the use of Stop and Search to take knives and drugs off the streets and increase arrests.
3. Roll out Live Facial Recognition in crime hotspots to catch wanted criminals.
4. Bring in “Immediate Justice” for low-level offences.
5. Crack down on cannabis and end the culture of police walking by.
6. Put public safety first in the management of serious mental illness, stamp out the ideology that has undermined public safety and the wellbeing of patients.
7. Curb dangerous e-bikes and e-scooters on pavements, mandating police intervention and strengthening penalties.
8. Stamp out ghost plates that evade ANPR, enabling organised crime, dangerous driving and wider lawlessness.
Britain works best when the rules are clear and enforced. The Conservative plan to take back our streets will restore visible policing, back officers to act decisively, and ensure that crime and anti-social behaviour face real consequences.
Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, said: “Low-level disorder chips away at the everyday civility that holds communities together. Conservatives say enough. People are sick of graffiti plaguing their streets, sick of shoplifting, open drug use. It creates the feeling that the rules no longer apply. Our plan will enforce the law through visible policing, real consequences and officers empowered to act. If you break the rules in Britain, you will face the consequences.”
I believe those living in Brentwood and Ongar deserve to feel safe in our community. Under Labour, police numbers have fallen, knife crime remains at alarming levels, and too many people are witnessing anti-social behaviour on our streets. Enough is enough.
The Conservatives’ plan to take back our streets – with 303 more police officers on the beat across Essex, will mean tougher stop and search powers, and real consequences for those who break the law – is exactly what our community needs.
