Neil O'Brien's ideas include big fines for playing music on transport and a crackdown on spitting.

Conservative MP Neil O’Brien has set out a list of policies to make Britain “vaguely civilised again” including “large and instant fines” for passengers playing music on public transport and a “crackdown on spitting”.

The Leicestershire MP also called for action to stop e-scooters being " dumped across pavements" and a push to plant trees on every residential street “where this is remotely possible”.

O’Brien was a minister in the previous Conservative government and is an influential thinker in the party, as the former head of the Policy Exchange think tank.

In a Substack article, external O’Brien argued the desire to live in a “civilised, orderly society” was “one of the most under-discussed and under-appreciated things in politics”.

“It is something often promised by politicians - but in my lifetime it has not been delivered.”

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Speaking to the BBC, O’Brien singled out street artist Banksy for criticism. He said his work was “valorising” graffiti.

"Graffiti is not art, it’s a massive nuisance, it creates a really disorderly atmosphere.

“People have done everything they can to make their place, perhaps a business or shop, nice then some moron sprays paint all over it.”

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Matt Ashby, a crime science lecturer at University College London, says many of the actions O’Brien proposes would require “substantial investment in public services”.

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O’Brien acknowledged in his piece that the Conservative-led government cut the number of police and although the overall levels were later restored, Ashby says cuts to Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) were not.

“Compared to 2010, right now we only have 44% of the PCSOs.”

  • HossenfefferEnglish
    11·
    1 day ago

    He said the most effective way to tackle anti-social behaviour was probably to catch offenders in the act, something that would require more police officers.

    But, he added, politicians usually prefer to opt for the “cheaper” option of increasing the severity of the punishment, such as fines, rather than employing more officers to enforce the rules.

    So close. The most effective way to tackle anti-social behaviour might be to address the causes of antisocial behaviour. But that would be even more expensive than just hiring more coppers.

    • HumanPenguinEnglish
      6·
      5 days ago

      No tory is going to believe that.

      It’s pretty much a key element of conservative politics. That people are positioned as their worth allows.

      The whole concept that a personal status is the fault of society rather than the individual is opposed to their whole being. Hence, why they feel fixing such situations is giving advantages to the undeserving rather than creating equality.