Oxfordshire MP Layla Moran slams Conservative Home Office

MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, Layla Moran, voiced her criticism at unsolved burglaries, car thefts and cases closed without a suspect being identified in the Thames Valley region.

The Liberal Democrats had released statistics in October indicating crime increases in the year to June.

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Ms Moran said: "With the vast majority of burglaries and car thefts continuing to go unsolved, it is clear that the Conservatives are failing to get the basics right when it comes to stopping crime.

“Thousands of victims are being cruelly denied justice and left feeling unsafe in their own home, as criminals get let off the hook every day."

The Liberal Democrats added that the government should "set up a new national Online Crime Agency, to better protect people from online crime while freeing up local forces' time to tackle burglars".

Liberal Democrat analysis suggested a 15.6 per cent increase from the previous year in burglaries going unsolved in the Thames Valley, a 32.7 per cent rise in car thefts and a 10 per cent increase in cases closed without a suspect being identified.

There was also criticism that 207 police community support officers had been taken off the streets of the Thames Valley since 2016 - a drop of 44.4 per cent.

MP Layla Moran

Ms Moran added: “This a searing indictment of Suella Braverman’s record as Home Secretary.

“This Conservative government must finally restore proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and empowered to focus on local crime.

"It is the only way to end this crime catastrophe.”

A Home Office spokesman told the Oxford Mail: "Since 2010 our communities are safer, with neighbourhood crimes including burglary, robbery and theft down 50 per cent and violent crime down 52 per cent, with more police officers in England and Wales than ever before.

“The Home Secretary has been clear that she wants forces to take a zero tolerance approach to crime and get the basics right.

"She secured a commitment from the police to attend the scene of every home burglary, which is now happening across the country, as well as to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry to ensure more crimes are solved and public confidence is improved.”

The Home Office added that the government "has delivered its commitment" to deploy 20,000 additional officers with the highest number of officers on record in England and Wales at the end of March 2023, surpassing the previous peak of March 2010.

It said that decisions on how funding and resources are utilised were an operational matter for chief constables and those locally elected police and crime commissioners "best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience".