Boris Johnson Fuels Election Speculation With Law And Order Crackdown

He said: “Dangerous criminals must be kept off our streets, serving the sentences they deserve – victims want to see it, the public want to see it and I want to see it.

“To ensure confidence in the system, the punishment must truly fit the crime. We have all seen examples of rapists and murderers let out too soon or people offending again as soon as they’re released.

“This ends now. We want them caught, locked up, punished and properly rehabilitated.”

However critics warned that there was no evidence that  longer sentences would result in a reduction  in crime.

Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Wera Hobhouse said the UK already had the largest prison population of any country in Western Europe and that a different approach was needed.

“For years, Labour and Tory ministers have made sentences longer and longer, without any evidence that they prevent crime,” she said.

“It may sound tough, but it hasn’t made our communities any safer. All it does is overcrowd our prisons and waste millions of pounds.

“We do need a sentencing review, but its aim should be to reverse decades of pointless sentence inflation. Instead of just talking tough, it’s time ministers look at the evidence.”