UK NEWS

BLING TAX ON CRIMELORDS

David Davis is critic of the plans

Sunday February 24,2008

By Kirsty Buchanan

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(6)

DRUG barons will have their cars, jewellery and paintings seized by police before they go to trial under a crackdown to be announced by the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

She will unveil Labour’s 10-year drugs strategy on Wednesday, revealing new powers for police to seize goods on arrest – provided a judge rules that there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect they were bought using the proceeds of crime.

The aim is to ensure dealers can’t sell them and hide cash away before conviction.

Expensive cars, jewellery, plasma TVs and paintings would then be sold off following conviction.

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 made the work of the Assets Recovery Agency easier but it was blasted for spending £65million in a year to recover £23million.

The new strategy will widen what can be seized and gets rid of the 12-year limit within which recovery proceedings must be taken.

The move could help Labour meet its target of recovering £250million a year from criminals by 2010.

In the past 12 months, more than £125million of criminal assets were seized. Drug-related crime is falling but a third of all offences in England and Wales are still linked to drugs.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said of the plan to seize assets on arrest: “What happens if there is no conviction? Will the taxpayer have to meet the cost of a massive law suit?

“Labour has presided over a period where hard drugs have become cheaper and more available than any time in history.

“It is time they got a direct grip on this by stopping drugs coming into our country with proper border controls, instead of continuing to chase easy headlines.”

Labour will this week also vow to roll out “early intervention” strategies for high-risk groups such as sex workers and drug users’ children.

The need for this was highlighted when Steve Wright was last week convicted of killing five prostitutes in Ipswich – all of them on the streets to feed drug habits.

I'TS UNLIKELY

25.02.08, 5:41am

Since some of the worst crooks in our country are the law-makers themselves.
Don't think our Tone and his missus would want the law rooting around his posh, Connaught Square,tax-payer funded gaff.Do you.?
Especially after all the trouble his wife went to to grab the goodies.

• Posted by: thewarlord • Report Comment

NO CHANCE

24.02.08, 12:13pm

Another meaningless announcement. Nu Labour have failed to implement any of their mad schemes. Just more spin aimed at fooling the pathetic British voter into supporting them again. None of this will happen for two reasons 1. Yuman Rights 2. E.U. law.
MP,S are the biggest bunch of crooks in the country so don't expect anything to change. What is needed is a radical change in voter attitude to the Lib/Lab/Con coalition. You cant cure this cancer by using an asprin.

• Posted by: Col • Report Comment

CRIMINAL POLITICIANS AND EXECUTIVES!

24.02.08, 10:26am

"DRUG barons will have their cars, jewellery and paintings seized by police before they go to trial under a crackdown to be announced by the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith."

Would Jacqui start with the criminal elements that exists within the fortified walls of the Parliament and the multinational corporations, protected by the call centres and the incompetent police, MI 5 and MI 6?

Do the enforcement agencies and the judiciary have any stomach to catch these crooks and make an example of them?

• Posted by: Nalin • Report Comment

THIEVES

24.02.08, 7:39am

Nu-liebour More corrupt but less competent than the Mafia

• Posted by: sewe • Report Comment

WHAT A NERVE

24.02.08, 1:42am

Biggest crimelords are the MP's

• Posted by: PaulH • Report Comment

BLOODY HELL !! - -

24.02.08, 12:53am

British MP's having to walk to work - and without their daily snort !! Any chance of them giving up any of the freebies paid for by us taxpayers while their at it ??

• Posted by: JAYDEE • Report Comment