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Jacqui Smith in a spin over paedophile rules
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor20.08.08
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was lambasted by the Tories today after she admitted that she timed a new clampdown on paedophiles to coincide with Gary Glitter's release.
The Home Office, expecting the former rock star to be back on British soil, this morning announced tougher controls on the movements of child-sex offenders.
Ms Smith admitted that her announcement had been made because of the interest in the Glitter case. When asked if the policies had been unveiled to coincide with his release, she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Of course it is the case when you have high-profile and disturbing cases that people question - and I for example question - officials about what restrictions we have on board on people being able to travel abroad to abuse children. Cases like this identify the questions we should be asking and the improvements that we should be making".
Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said Ms Smith's admission harked back to the worst days of Alistair Campbell's "spin" machine and said the Home Office should be looking at the issue regardless of celebrity cases.
"This would be the crudest form of news management in an extremely sensitive area. It would demonstrate that Labour's obsession with presentation over delivery has sunk to new depths," he told the Evening Standard.
Ms Smith said she was considering increasing the age limit to 18 for young people deemed at risk in cases involving travel restrictions. The length of travel banning orders for paedophiles would be increased from six months to up to five years.
Police seeking sexual offences prevention orders would no longer need to provide evidence from the past six months and offenders subject to blanket travel bans would have their passports confiscated.
During a visit to Tooting today, Ms Smith also announced £2.25million for an extra 6,000 special constables over the next three years, taking the total number in England and Wales to 20,000.
The money will also pay for nine "regional co-ordinators" to encourage more volunteers.
