Policies - Law & Order

“We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.” 1 Timothy 1:8

The Christian Party believes that the United Kingdom should have a strong police force and an effective judiciary. The police should serve the public by bringing criminals to court, tackling illegal and dangerous behaviour on our streets and creating an atmosphere of safety, especially around our homes. It should be the police who deal with threatening groups on housing estates and street corners, not parents or other members of the public.

The judiciary should ensure that the rule of law is upheld and justice is administered in a righteous manner; the guilty punished, the innocent protected and victims of crime equitably compensated through restorative justice.

Sadly, the ‘politics of fear’ has transformed the United Kingdom into a state where the police are able to lord it over the public rather than serve them. Random ‘Stop and Search’, CCTV surveillance, unnecessary motoring restrictions, the inappropriate invocation of anti-terror laws and over-reaching powers of arrest are just some of the issues that have made the policeman on the beat feel more like a threat than a friend.

Parents have been deliberately and systematically undermined and then blamed for the breakdown of family life. The resultant social breakdown and attendant ‘yobbism’ has then been used as an excuse for even more draconian laws. Indeed, the state is just beginning to flex its muscles in relation to taking children away from their parents for spurious reasons. How long before parents have their children taken away because of their religious beliefs?

Law and order is increasingly being used for social engineering. Charity law, for example, is being modified to apply a “public benefit test”. This will mean that if Christianity is deemed not to have a public benefit, then churches would not be able to obtain charitable status. This may seem far-fetched until one remembers that some homosexual police officers, with the aid of Home Office funding, have already openly suggested in advertisements that violent homophobia is caused by Christianity, i.e. Christianity rather than being of public benefit is actually dangerous. Their abhorrent views were rightly censured by the Advertising Standards Authority as untrue and offensive. Yet the worrying police practice of failing to protect groups and individuals that do not share their views is emerging as a dangerous trend, which must be reversed.

Law and Order Starts in the Home:

At the heart of the law and order problem is the fact that ‘law’ has been placed before ‘order’. With the increasing dominance of secular humanist fundamentalism and liberalism in civil society, moral absolutes and long established patterns of social order have had to compete with the doctrine of relativism that has destroyed the boundaries that previously held our society together. With these boundaries destroyed, society has atomized with “everyone doing what seems right in their own eyes.” With the recognition of every minority group and opinion has come the demand for special rights and considerations; the end result being the constant contestation of rights with little regard for responsibility.

For most of us, the dangers of communism or fascism are obvious. The effects of liberalism, however, have been less obvious, but the decline of our society is plain to all. The decline has been the result of liberalism, which has now been exacerbated by secular humanist fundamentalism.

What is required is a re-ordering of society in keeping with God’s word. Above all, this means authority must be restored to parents and responsibility accepted by them. It is no accident that the “first commandment with a promise” is, “Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land…”

Legislation has systematically undermined the authority of parents, and the education system has encouraged children to dishonour their parents. Emphasis on children’s rights has usurped a fundamental right of the child to be parented by its parents. There has been a nationalization of childhood; based on the notion that the state and its ‘experts’ know best. This is a misguided notion. The fact that children can secretly gain access to contraception and even abortions on the NHS without their parents’ knowledge or consent epitomises the problem. What is required is a change in the role and behaviour of the social services, schools and other agencies to one of support for parents, so that parental authority is strengthened and not weakened.

A child who is taught at school that their parents are “Not the boss of me! ” will not readily accept the authority of their school. Indeed, schoolchildren will not hesitate to remind teachers that, “You are not my mum or dad! ”, thus denying the concept of in loco parentis. With parental authority undermined, discipline at home becomes difficult.

If indiscipline and disrespect for authority is learned at home, it will be carried into the school environment. If indiscipline and disrespect for authority are re-affirmed at school by denying parental authority and the in loco parentis status of teachers then indiscipline and disrespect for authority will be carried on to the streets. The result is usually unpleasant for members of the public, and often leads to police intervention. However, unlike parents and teachers, the police have an array of serious sanctions. These include ‘reasonable force’, the use of handcuffs, truncheons, pepper spray, electric shocks, and in extreme cases the use of firearms.

We have created a society that has denied important disciplinary sanctions to parents whilst leaving the agents of the state, the police and social services, with all the sanctions. Children grow up with the state backing their disregard for parental authority in the home, while the state cannot provide the parenting required. When children become adults and leave the parental home they discover that the authority of the state does not allow the unruly and disordered behaviour they enjoyed when living with their parents. This rude awakening is not only confusing; it is the source of immense societal collateral damage.

Respect for authority starts in the home. Therefore if the rule of law is to be maintained in wider society the principle of respecting rules and regulations must be first established in the home. Child ‘protection’ legislation, such as the anti-smacking law, has caused a power shift in the home from parents to their children. Jim McCullough, the father who slapped his 13 year old daughter Jess, because she had been terrorising the neighbourhood, was arrested and received a criminal record, not his daughter. He was arrested because his daughter reported him to the police for assault. This kind of action confuses parents and undermines their ability to maintain order in the home.

We do, of course, recognise that some parents abuse their position. The Christian Party’s view is that the burden of proof should be high, but the punishment of the guilty should also be high when parents have transgressed.

The authority of parents and those who serve in loco parentis i.e. teachers and foster carers must be re-established. Legislation and education must back the right of parents to discipline their children. This must include the right to apply sanctions regarding sexual behaviour.

Parents and families must also have the right to protect their homes from criminals. The protection of the innocent must take priority over the so-called ‘rights’ of the criminal. It cannot be correct that a father defending his family and/or home from attack should face arrest and prosecution.

The Community & Law and Order:

There is an African proverb that says, “It takes the whole village to raise a child.” The entire community recognises the responsibility that it has in relation to raising the next generation. It used to be the case that one could rely on neighbours to look out for the wellbeing of one’s home, car, and even children if need be. Today such neighbourly concern and intervention when necessary is fraught with the dangers of misunderstanding, mistrust and even physical harm.

There was a time when a neighbour could chastise an errant youngster not only with impunity but with the thanks of their parents. Today, ‘getting involved’ is too risky, on too many levels. As a result, neighbours are unknown to each other, often literally living behind bars. The proverbial “clip round the ear” is now child abuse – assault of a minor. Reporting a child to his or her parent can no longer be guaranteed to be greeted with gratitude. Society has been atomised, broken into small pieces of protective self-interest, housed in safe deposit boxes that we call ‘homes’.

We need to prevent further atomisation of society. We must reverse the trend. We need to engender greater civic pride and ownership of more than just our home, but also our streets. The notion of waiting for ‘the Council’ to do everything should be replaced by a sense of civic responsibility that will take the initiative. In terms of law and order, local offenders should repay their community with community service such as litter picking, graffiti removal, and landscape gardening on housing estate or in appropriate public spaces. In this way the importance of cleanliness and civic pride will be engendered not only in offenders, but in us all.

Community cohesion should be more than just a buzz phrase, and it should be encouraged at a structural level of society. Those who get involved should be encouraged, celebrated and supported. Communal events such as street parties or summer barbecues and autumn bonfires should not be hampered or discouraged on the grounds of health and safety. It is far harder to hurt or steal from someone you have come to know.

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)

One of the most tragic results of the atomisation of society is our reliance on closed circuit television (CCTV). CCTV does not stop crime, it merely records crime. Most criminals now factor in the presence of CCTV into their plans. A hood or balaclava provide easy disguise for the criminal.

Whilst CCTV surveillance can pick out the number plate of an illegally parked car; it cannot capture a good enough image of a thief or vandal to bring about an arrest or prosecution. This cannot be right.

Furthermore, CCTV is being increasingly used for surveillance of the innocent rather than capturing the guilty.

The Christian Party is committed to eliminating the inappropriate use of CCTV. We will maintain a sense of community safety by supporting grassroots initiatives such as the Street Pastors, promoting a community spirit that cares for and looks out for the wellbeing of one’s neighbours.

Equalities Law

An urgent review of Equalities Law is required in order to repeal race equality laws, sexual orientation equality laws, gender equality laws and religious equality laws. The idea of special favour for special interest groups is contrary to Christianity which teaches that all people are equal in the sight of God as “there is no partiality in God”. The aim of positive discrimination has run its course and the time for re-balancing has come.

There should be no benefits for special interest groups, but rather impartial justice for all. The recognition of special interest groups and the bowing to special pleadings only serves to exacerbate the atomisation of society.

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech is one of our most precious freedoms and it is under threat from the homosexual agenda. Political philosopher Michael Sandel in the second BBC Reith Lecture 2009, noted that the homosexual agenda is not to seek equality for they already have it. What they now seek is to have their practices honoured. For Christians and for many others, including some of no faith, this is simply not possible.

The Government’s Coroners and Justice Bill attempted to insert a clause to modify existing law in order to outlaw freedom of speech concerning homosexually. The clause read:

Clause 58

Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation in Part 3A of the Public Order Act 1986 (c. 64) (hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation etc), omit section 29JA (protection for discussion or criticism of sexual conduct etc).

The words of the section to be omitted, which were added to the Public Order Act by former Home Secretary Lord Waddington, read:

For the avoidance of doubt, the discussion or criticism of sexual conduct or practices or the urging of persons to refrain from or modify such conduct or practices shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred.

These words gave a protection to those who wish to freely discuss homosexuality and its practices, speaking the truth in love. Had this clause been passed free speech concerning homosexuality would have effectively been outlawed, and a precedent set for any or all areas of free speech to be banned.

Those who seek to muzzle free speech are usually not content if they succeed in so doing. Their aim is to extinguish opposing thought. The Christian Party totally opposes the erosion of the hard-fought right to free speech, the introduction of the policing of thoughts and the de facto introduction of ‘thought crime’.

Sex Slavery

Prostitution allows women in particular to be abused and enslaved. It has no place in the United Kingdom today. It is suspected that there are more slaves in Britain today than at the height of the African slave trade; only this time those slaves are not waiting on tables or toiling on the land - they are sex slaves.

The current Labour Government’s attitude toward prostitution has contributed to the thriving sex slave trade in Britain. The real reason that the Government have done nothing about the sex slave trade is that they just don’t care. Indeed, the Labour Government sought to introduce so-called prostitution “tolerance zones” and passed legislation effectively allowing mini-brothels to exist. The Christian Party totally opposes these moves. It will seek the most stringent action to eradicate sex slavery in the United Kingdom and to secure the heaviest penalties for slave drivers.

Motoring Law

The Christian Party believes that the top motorway speed limit of 70mph is unnecessarily low, and should be raised to 90mph. In cases where the motorway speeding fines are more a matter of revenue collection than road safety an amnesty would be in order, as this was not the original intention of the law. Using speeding fines as a source of revenue collection brings people into unnecessary conflict with the police and undermines the legitimacy and authority of the police.

Furthermore, speeding offences can result in court appearances where the motorist’s entire financial status must be made available to the court. Such intrusion is unnecessary, unjustified and should cease.

Unjustifiable and oppressive parking restrictions and the heavy-handed use of traffic wardens, bailiffs and surveillance officers in the process of penalty collection has made the car owner more likely to be engaged negatively with the authorities than drug dealers and burglars. This trend must be reversed by a complete review and re-evaluation of the criteria for parking restrictions and parking fines. For example, a £120 fine for overstaying in a car park for a few minutes simply cannot be justified, particularly when contrasted with the fine that a hooligan might get for causing an affray. Fines for overstaying in car parks should be limited to a maximum of the cost of the day rate for parking in the facility.

Restorative Justice

The Christian Party supports the concept of restorative justice and will seek the imposition of large financial penalties on convicted criminals to properly compensate victims of crime and to reimburse for damage to property.

Zero Tolerance on drug abuse

The Christian Party will promote a zero tolerance approach towards illegal drug possession for personal use, and prohibit the current police strategy of non-arrest for possession for personal use. We recognise that any business, including the illegal drugs trade, relies on demand to survive. The current supply-sided approach that focuses only on drug dealers will never work if the demand side of the illegal drugs trade is not simultaneously tackled in a robust way. Rather than prison sentences for offenders the Christian Party would seek the use of a full range of alternative punishments.

The Use of Bailiffs by Local Authorities

The use of bailiffs by national and local authorities as the principal method of collection of unpaid fixed penalty notice parking fines and for the recovery of unpaid tax and rent has now got out of hand. Whilst it is recognised that such revenue must be collected, the use of bailiffs as the first face to face engagement is oppressive, unnecessary, expensive and counter-productive in the long term.

The distress caused by a bailiff visit can be ‘the straw that breaks the camel’s back’, bringing about business collapse, family breakdown and anger towards the national and local administrative bodies responsible. The Christian Party believes that a visit from a council officer or government representative, not a bailiff, in order to seek an orderly resolution to any financial indebtedness will produce better results both in terms of repayment of funds and good community relations.

The Christian Party would ban the use, by both national and local authorities, of bailiffs as the first face to face encounter with those in financial debt to national or local authorities for whatever reason.

Christian Party Members of Parliament will:

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