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A Conservative MP has called for a “crackdown on spitting” and “large and instant fines” for people playing music on public transport as part of an attempt to make the UK “vaguely civilised again”.
Neil O’Brien also called for an end to vandalism of street furniture, action to stop e-bikes and scooters being ridden on pavements, an end to “street scars” where gaps in street paving are replaced with tarmac, and a “galvanising” national goal to cut down the volume of litter.
The Leicestershire MP also called for a push to plant trees on every residential street “where this is remotely possible”.
Writing in his Substack blog, Mr O’Brien, who was a minister in the previous Tory administration, said the desire to live in an “orderly and civilised society” was “one of the most under-discussed and under-appreciated things in politics”.
“It is something often promised by politicians – but in my lifetime it has not been delivered”, he said.
His vision for society is “the biggest missing idea in British politics”, the MP claimed.
Politicians on both the left and the right were “culpable” for the current situation, he wrote, criticising his own party for failing to deliver on promises as a result of prioritising “other things more”.
Mr O’Brien said: “We cut police numbers then restored them; lost prison officers, then rehired less experienced ones; and we didn’t deal with the prolific offenders who cause so much misery.”
But he said he does not “believe for one second the current government has what it takes to make this country more orderly”.
The MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston took aim at Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for prisons, accusing the government of taking an “anti-prison position”.
He wrote: “We already know that they have commissioned the Gauke Review. This is intended to lead to a ban on short prison sentences – a long-cherished goal of anti-prison campaigners.
“The government have also briefed that they will stop recalling to prison people who breach their licence conditions. While initially Labour have been able to ‘blame the last lot”’ their ideological anti-prison position will become clearer and clearer to the public over time.”
This week it emerged that low-level criminals could serve their sentences under house arrest as part of plans to free up prison space and ease overcrowing.
A government review, launched on Tuesday, will explore tougher punishments outside of prison while making sure there is space to incarcerate the most dangerous offenders.
It came on the same day that around 1,100 inmates were freed as part of the government’s policy to free up prison space.
The review will look at using technology to place criminals in a “prison outside prison” and forcing offenders to do work in the community to give back to society.
Punishments outside prison could involve using wristwatches or apps that “nudge” offenders to ask if they have complied with licence conditions, in addition to sobriety tags or home detention curfews.
