Crime, Justice and the General Election. What's on offer? What's needed?

The Conservative Party was keen to highlight the fall in the official crime rate, and the increase in police officer numbers under their watch.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats argued that the Conservatives had left the justice system in a mess and overseen a fall in personal safety and a sense of security.

So what were the main parties offering on crime and justice? What’s good and what’s bad in the manifestos? Are any of the parties offering a clear and coherent response to the problems of crime and safety? If not, what’s needed?

Joining us to discuss these questions, and more, were:

• Ian Acheson, Visiting Professor at Staffordshire University, former civil servant and recent author of Screwed: Britain’s Prison Crisis and How To Escape It
• Phil Bowen, Director of the Centre for Justice Innovation and a former civil servant, including as a delivery adviser to the Prime Minister on criminal justice reform
• Frances Crook, co-convenor of the Commission on Political Power and former Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform
• Jo Phoenix, Professor of Criminology at the University of Reading, with an expertise in sex and gender, prostitution policy, youth justice, among other things, and a trustee of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies

Watch the discussion