- The Guardian,
- Tuesday October 2 2007
Oliver Letwin, chairman of the party's policy review, warned that "enormous numbers" of Britons remained trapped by multiple disadvantage, suffering from addictions and problems such as poor housing as well as low incomes.
Asked about the extent to which drugs fuelled urban crime, Mr Letwin told the Guardian fringe debate: "A drug [addict] is a victim, not a miscreant, though it may lead to him being a miscreant. The pusher is the person who is the most direct cause [of crime], but many pushers are also victims, because they are parts of pyramids in which they are both users and sellers."
He warned that the government had failed to cut back the supply of drugs, and backed the social justice policy review's call for abstinence-based rehabilitation to replace the prescription of drug substitutes.
His remarks come as the party toughens its message on crime. Last year David Cameron urged Britons to "show a lot more love" to troubled young people in what Labour dubbed his "hug a hoodie" speech. But this summer he declared: "Common sense suggests that with young people you need to hit them where it hurts."
Mr Letwin told the debate - entitled Are the Tories Getting it Right? - that the Conservatives would focus on helping those trapped in poverty to help themselves. "The government has been acting from the top ... rather than enabling people to escape conditions that trap them," he said.
Greg Clark, the shadow charities minister, added: "We think giving people their heads, allowing them to be tested, to make decisions for themselves but to support them ... is how we will tackle some of their problems."
He argued that the Tories had shown that they were now the truly progressive party - citing their concern for the vulnerable.
"If you contrast that with the failure of Labour, you see Labour as the 'small c' Conservative party," he added, arguing that the government's statist prescriptions lacked ambition.
