City MP backs tough new action on antisocial behaviour and town centre crime for people of Portsmouth

The Labour Government is introducing a raft of measures including brand new Respect Orders and action against shoplifting, as part of its flagship Crime and Policing Bill.

Respect Orders – promised in Labour’s 2024 manifesto and delivered today – will enable swift enforcement against persistent antisocial behaviour offenders. The Orders come as shock data shows that Hampshire Police Force, which polices the Portsmouth area, handed down just eight Penalty Notices for Disorder for ASB in in 2023 – a fall of over 3,700 from 2010.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s Bill also includes action on shoplifting, including introducing a new offence of assaulting a retail worker. Labour will also scrap the Tory ‘shoplifter’s charter’, a law which deprioritised the theft of goods under £200. Stats show there were 15,092 incidences of shoplifting in Hampshire, around 290 per week.

In 2023, Conservative Policing Minister Chris Philp was met with criticism when he urged members of the public to make citizen’s arrests on those they witnessed shoplifting. Labour’s bill will also give the police new powers to enter premises without a warrant, enabling the police to search and seize stolen property swiftly which they believe is at an address.

Labour’s action comes as the number of snatch thefts last year reached 85,000 across England and Wales.

The new measures will be supported by the government’s plan to recruit 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles over the course of this Parliament. Hampshire Police Force has granted an increase in funding to deliver the reforms.

Commenting, Stephen Morgan MP for Portsmouth South said: “After 14 years of Conservative rule, our town centres and neighbourhoods are plagued by anti-social behaviour.

“The people of Portsmouth will wholeheartedly welcome the tough new action included in Labour’s bill.

“Whether it’s street drinking, harassment or vandalism on the high street or noisy and intimidating off-road bikes terrorising our estates, my constituents are fed up.

“Antisocial behaviour chips away at our communities’ confidence and pride, undermines local businesses and can have a devastating impact on victims.

“My constituents will welcome the introduction of tough new Respect Orders, and Government action on shoplifting cannot come soon enough.

“The flagship Crime and Policing Bill is a vital step towards the safer streets promised in this Government’s Plan for Change”.

Constituents can sign up for Mr Morgan's next coffee morning on crime and safety here: https://www.stephenmorgan.org.uk/contact/upcoming-events/