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David Cameron to outline 'tough' law and order stance Theresa May promises life sentences for gun suppliers
(about 3 hours later)
  
The prime minister is to say Britain needs a new "tough but intelligent" approach to law and order in a speech. A new offence of supplying a firearm will be introduced to tackle people who hire out weapons to gangs, Home Secretary Theresa May has said.
David Cameron is expected to say a combination of both tough prison sentences and lighter rehabilitation methods is necessary. Ms May told the BBC those supplying guns were "as guilty" as those using them.
Labour said the government was promising measures which had already been announced. The maximum sentence for the offence will be life imprisonment.
It comes at the end of a week which saw the resignation of the chief whip. It is one of a number of measures to be outlined by David Cameron on Monday in a speech on crime.
BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said the government must hope the long-planned speech could steady nerves in the Conservative Party after a difficult few days, dominated by Andrew Mitchell stepping down. In his first major speech on the issue since becoming prime minister, Mr Cameron is expected to pledge a "tough but intelligent" approach to law and order - but Labour say the government is cutting police numbers and crime-fighting resources.
The government is looking to regain the initiative after a difficult week dominated by the resignation of the Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell.
No 10's handling of Mr Mitchell's departure, five weeks after a confrontation with a police officer outside Downing Street, has been questioned by Conservative MPs and peers.
The prime minister has also been criticised for confusion over the government's energy policy and fresh accusations that senior ministers are out of touch with the public.
Sterile debateSterile debate
On Friday, Mr Mitchell said the month-long row over his confrontation with Downing Street police had made his position untenable. David Cameron's crime speech has been a long time in the writing.
Mr Cameron, who had supported Mr Mitchell, has been criticised by Labour and Tory peer Lord Tebbit over his handling of the matter. No 10 has hinted for months that the prime minister's first major address on law and order was just around the corner.
His speech will be an attempt to end what he will characterise as a sterile debate between those who call for tougher sentencing and others who want to see more rehabilitation of offenders. Other things always seemed to get in the way.
He is set to say that "retribution isn't a dirty word". Perhaps that is why a lot of the measures that have been briefed to the papers seem quite familiar.
But the shadow policing minister, David Hanson said the prime minister's intervention on law and order was misguided. We knew that payment by results for cutting reoffending was being extended.
"I think he's much better placed to actually start to look at why we're cutting 15,000 police officers, why we've watered down DNA regulations, why we're stopping people putting CCTV cameras up," he said. The new gun-running offence has been on the cards since earlier in the year.
And shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government's attitude to policing had been "weak and foolish". Therefore it's more interesting for what it tells us about the prime minister's instincts in this area.
"David Cameron is undermining the police in their work against crime and anti-social behaviour," she said. Gone are the very 2005-ish ideas of showing more love to young offenders.
"People will see these new promises on sentencing and immediately ask if the detectives and officers will be there to catch the criminals in the first place. In, instead, is the very 2012-ish idea of being tough on crime.
Earlier this year Parliament passed an Act that will introduce tougher sentences for specific serious crimes. Under it some serious offenders will face a life sentence if they commit the same crime twice. Monday's speech will be an attempt to end what he will characterise as a sterile debate between those who call for tougher sentencing and others who want to see more rehabilitation of offenders and say that "retribution isn't a dirty word".
Ministers said the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 would also toughen community sentences and help to cut reoffending by doing more to reintegrate convicted criminals after the end of their sentences. Ahead of the speech, Mrs May confirmed that gun-runners who supply lethal weapons to gangsters could be given life sentences, telling the BBC's Sunday Politics show the actions of those individuals needed to be treated more seriously.
The prime minister is expected to announce that a payment by results system for private companies who successfully rehabilitate offenders will be expanded. "We know there are middle men, who have firearms that they then rent out to criminals who then use them.
First plan 'failed' "There isn't at the moment an offence for someone to possess a firearm with the intent to supply it to someone else.
The government is also expected to introduce life sentences for gun-runners who supply lethal weapons to gangsters. "I think it is right that we introduce that offence, because those people who are supplying the firearms are as guilty as the people using them when it comes to the impact."
The Home Office has been consulting on a proposed new law for the supply of handguns after chief constables and MPs called for the change in 2010. 'Undermining police'
The government might also end the practice of giving all prisoners £46 in cash when they are released from prison. The prime minister is also expected to announce that a payment by results system for private companies will be expanded and they might also end the practice of giving all prisoners £46 in cash when they are released from prison.
The speech comes after the prime minister replaced Ken Clarke with Chris Grayling as justice secretary in September's reshuffle. Labour said that, far from being tough on crime, the government was cutting 15,000 police officers, curbing the use of CCTV cameras and "watering down" regulations on the use of DNA in criminal investigations.
Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said the government's first justice plan had failed so they were trying another. "David Cameron is undermining the police in their work against crime and anti-social behaviour," shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said. "People will see these new promises on sentencing and immediately ask if the detectives and officers will be there to catch the criminals in the first place."
He added that the government was promising measures such as more prison places which it could not afford. Ex-Met Police Commissioner Lord Blair, who is now a cross-bench peer, said there was little of substance in the government's approach
"When you look at what they are actually doing, with the exception of something... about people carrying guns getting a longer sentence, there is not that much. It is just an effort to get away from this story on privilege."
The speech comes after the prime minister replaced Ken Clarke with Chris Grayling as justice secretary in September's reshuffle, a move widely interpreted as a shift to the right.
Mr Grayling has already announced plans to toughen community sentences and give householders who react with force when confronted by burglars more legal protection.