Yesterday (as parliament was dissolved) another New Labour failure was almost swept under the carpet. Some seven years after the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett (remember him!) made much off promises to go after the “homes, yachts, mansions and luxury cars” of crime barons, criminals are holding on to their assets. The Times (9th April 2010) reported that New Labour's efforts to seize millions of pounds from fraudsters and tax evaders are failing because criminals are managing to hide their gains from the authorities.
So far, only £30 million of £174 million ordered to be repaid in England and Wales since 2005 has been recovered so far. The figures were released on Thursday 8th April, no doubt under the illusion that most people would not notice, show that some seven years after David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary, promised The returns should seriously call into question what should be one of the key weapons in the fight against organised crime, and this has come to pass despite the recruitment of dozens of specialist staff who were recruited by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to lead the fight to recover criminal assets.
Oops! Perhaps yesterday was a good day to bury New labour bad news after all?
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