Yvette Cooper tore into the Conservative Party’s record on crime today, saying “everything feels broken”.
The shadow home secretary said only Labour was the party of law and order and that there had been a “complete collapse” in home office leadership.
She made the comments during a speech at the Institute for Government think tank on Thursday morning.
It comes as Labour promised to recruit an extra 13,000 community police officers and PCSOs to tackle knife crime and drug dealing if elected.
“In the last 12 months alone, we’ve had four home secretaries two of whom were the same person, three justice secretaries two of whom were the same person, three attorney generals and four policing ministers,” Cooper said.
“It is a shocking level of chaos and it’s damaging. It’s not just the chaos and the incompetence that has caused the problems around issues in crime and policing.
“I want to talk today about what’s been a complete collapse in home office leadership - on crime and policing under the Conservatives.”
Cooper said there was a sense that when things go wrong “no-one comes and nothing is done”.
“Too often, as in so many other public services after 13 years of Conservative government, everything feels broken.”
Cooper announced a “neighbourhood policing guarantee” to assign named officers and PCSOs to every community as part of an effort to boost visibility.
Labour claims the plans would help to tackle anti-social behaviour, and prevent growing numbers of young people being drawn into gangs and violent crime.
The pledge will be backed up by new training and technology, with the opposition claiming that a law underpinning its proposals would be a priority for its home office.
The government insisted it was recruiting the “most police officers we have ever had”, and criticised Labour’s record on crime.
Home office minister Chris Philp said: “Labour’s announcement today is over four months old and further evidence of their soft on crime approach – their proposed investment is a tenth of what we are delivering.
“Meanwhile this Conservative government is recruiting the most police officers we have ever had, with 20,000 fully funded extra police officers being recruited by April this year, equipped with full powers of arrest.
“Labour voted against boosting police funding, voted against tougher sentences, including for violent sexual offenders, and they oppose deporting foreign national offenders – they are weak on crime, weak on criminals, and they cannot be trusted to keep our communities safe.”