PROFITS FROM ALL CRIMES TO BE SEIZED

MO MOWLAM will today attempt to wrest back the law and order agenda from the
Tories by announcing new plans to strip "career criminals" of their assets.

The measure, which will be Labour's key policy on crime at the next
election, will require new legislation as well as the creation of a powerful
national confiscation agency staffed by financial experts.

In a speech today at Glaziers Hall in London, Dr Mowlam, the Cabinet Office
Minister, will say: "Why should millions of law-abiding people work hard for
a living whilst a few criminals live a life of luxury built on the misery of
others? Arresting and convicting criminals is not enough - we must also take
away their profits. In every court case we should be looking to confiscate
the unlawful assets that have built up. That should be the norm, not the
exception."

Although an existing law allows courts to seize the assets of drug dealers,
ministers are frustrated that this has not been used as often as it should.

A report from the Government's Performance and Innovation Unit has said that
the number of cases where offenders were liable to forfeit their assets was
7,000 in 1996, but only 1,500 orders were made. The value of the orders was
UKP10 million but just UKP5 million in revenue was eventually raised.
Ministers believe the new law will raise at least ten times as much. It will
allow courts to seize homes, cars and money from gang leaders and persistent
thieves, as well as drug barons.

Launching the Staying Safe report on youth homelessness, Dr Mowlam will say:
"If we don't deal with these social problems, individuals' lives are wasted
and society as a whole suffers. That's what it means to have responsibility
for each other."

She will say that the Government is determined to tackle deprivation and the
causes of crime, as well as bringing in tough policies to tackle the real
criminals. In contrast, she will say that William Hague's recent
pronouncements on law and order are "kneejerk reactions" which "cynically
play on people's fears about crime".

"I don't want to live in William Hague's world. And neither do the majority
in this country. In William Hague's world, responsibility for ourselves and
for others doesn't matter. The Tories foster a culture of blame, not a
culture of responsibility, nor a culture of compassion."

Dr Mowlam will say that the legislation would also include "tough new
measures against money-laundering". Much of the revenue raised will go to a
social exclusion fund to help the least privileged in society and prevent
people becoming criminals.

Dr Mowlam, who has responsibility for government policy on drugs and
homelessness, will pledge UKP6 million for a new programme designed to
prevent young people from sleeping rough.

The decision to give Dr Mowlam the role of leading the fightback against the
Tories on law and order shows that Downing Street now intends to make more
use of the Cabinet Office Minister, who opinion polls show is the most
popular member of the Government.

"She combines toughness, through her own experience, with a strong streak of
compassion and is ideal to deliver the Government's message on this and many
other matters," one Labour adviser said.

Conservative policies on law and order, including plans to lock up all
asylum seekers on arrival in Britain, also came under attack yesterday from
Andrew Rowe, the Tory MP for Faversham and Mid-Kent.

He told BBC1's On the Record that the party was in danger of being painted
as "being on the extreme right of politics" and was "too hostile to
vulnerable people".

Paul Cavadino of the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of
Offenders, said that Tory plans for tougher sentencing would mean that
almost 20 new prisons would have to be built at a cost of UKP370 million.

However, Ann Widdecombe, the Shadow Home Secretary, insisted that the Tories
were seeking the "right combination of carrot and stick. It isn't all just
mindlessly 'lock 'em up'."