Blair and Howard clash over householder security
Tony Blair and Michael Howard have clashed on the issue of homeowners using “reasonable force” to tackle intruders, just a day after the Government clarified the law in this area.
The Conservative leader asked the Prime Minister why the Government had changed civil law to stop burglars from suing homeowners but would not change criminal law to give homeowners greater protection from prosecution when tackling burglars.
In 2003, the Government increased the test used under civil law to assess whether burglars had a case for suing homeowners to “grossly disproportionate force”. The Conservatives have published a private members bill, which would use the test of “grossly disproportionate” force in criminal law instead of the test of “reasonable force”.
“What on earth is the need for two tests?” Mr Howard asked during Prime Minister’s question time this afternoon.
Mr Blair replied that as a leaflet published yesterday made clear, people were only prosecuted for tackling intruders in the “most extreme set of circumstances”.
Undeterred, the Conservative leader asked why Mr Blair persisted in saying there had only been a few prosecutions of householders, citing research by the Sunday Telegraph that uncovered a further seven examples on top of the eleven detailed by the Crown Prosecution Service. He said the Government’s leaflet “only adds to the confusion” and called on the Prime Minister to support a bill brought forward by Conservative MP and Shadow Homeland Security Minister Patrick Mercer.
But Mr Blair said that each of those cases had been “wholly exceptional” and accused Mr Howard of “trying to sow confusion for his own reasons of opportunism”. He added: “The law is clear and it has been made clear again.”
Patrick Mercer’s Householder Security Bill will be read for a second time in the House of Commons on Friday.
Responding to the publication of the leaflet by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Crown Prosecution Service, Mr Mercer said: “This will do nothing to redress the law in favour of the victim and away from the criminal. The Government needs to address this issue much more seriously and not just try to bolt the stable door after the horse has fled.
“Under pressure from the Conservatives, the Government amended the civil law. They must now do so with this law so that it is on the side of householders and shop owners, not the burglar.”
