Lib Dem leader Davey targets Tory record on crime in run-up to local elections

Tory heartlands are being targeted by the Liberal Democrats in the run-up to May’s council elections.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey will visit 25 areas of the so-called Blue Wall, accusing the Conservatives of failing to tackle crime and no longer representing the voters who had traditionally backed them.

Sir Ed will claim that Rishi Sunak’s Tories have gone from being the party of law and order to one of “chaos and crisis”.

The Liberal Democrats will fight to restore effective community policing where officers are visible, trusted and focused on cutting crime

The Conservative government has committed to recruiting 20,000 extra police officers, with 17,000 of them already in place.

But the Lib Dems highlighted figures showing poor rates of crime detection in key Conservative strongholds.

Sir Ed will begin his tour in Three Rivers in Hertfordshire, a county where just 2% of burglaries result in a suspect being charged.

The Lib Dems run the district council, but two of the three MPs covering the area are Conservatives, with Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper also representing parts of two wards.

Sir Ed said: “This government is allowing a silent epidemic of crime to sweep across the country, letting far too many criminals off the hook while millions of victims are denied justice.

“Voters across the Blue Wall have had enough of broken promises from a Conservative Party that no longer represents them.

“The Liberal Democrats will fight to restore effective community policing where officers are visible, trusted and focused on cutting crime.”