Conservative tough talk no substitute for catching criminals

12.00.00am GMT Mon 7th Jul 2008

Commenting on David Cameron's proposals that knife-carrying should lead to an automatic prison sentence, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

"Threatening prison is good for tabloid headlines but it means nothing if teenagers think they will not be caught.

"Shockingly the detection rate for violent crime in the Metropolitan Police area is the lowest in the country, at just 30 per cent.

"We need a visible police presence in high risk areas, intelligence-led stop and search, metal-detecting arches and a much better understanding in schools of what is at stake.

"We should be showing video interviews with some of the remorseful young murderers who are only now realising the full enormity of what they have done."