WHATEVER chance the Conservatives had of regaining power from Tony Blair and "New" Labour went through the window this week when Michael Howard, their leader, alienated a large group of professional people: Burglars.

Mr Howard, never one to waste an opportunity to score a point or two, personally endorsed a tough, new policy to restrict the activities of men and women going about their unlawful pursuit of relieving you and I of whatever valuables we might possess.

Senior police officers have backed moves to change the law, giving victims of burglary the right to defend their property, belongings, and family, without fear of prosecution.

This amid a furore about what can, or cannot be done to repel boarders in the night, or whenever such incursions might occur. It has been thrown into sharp focus by recent incidents where men who tackled intruders were knifed to death

Millions of burglars, indignant that Michael Howard has singled them out for special treatment, point out that not every thief is a murderer, and if homeowners and shopkeepers would just let them go about their business, unhindered, no-one would get hurt and there would be no need for all this chatter about "reasonable force".

The trouble is that no-one seems to know exactly what constitutes "reasonable force". Norfolk farmer Tony Martin thought discharging a double-barrelled shotgun was "reasonable" enough.

He had been robbed so many times that he was on first-name terms with his local police, having spent so much time with them. That didn't keep Mr Martin out of prison when he shot dead one of the burglars who came calling to his farmhouse in the middle of the night.

With a General Election expected earlier rather than later next year, the issue of law and order, or lack of it, is bound to play a major part, and Mr Howard is getting in early. He insists the Conservative Party will be much tougher on criminals than the present government, and said on the television news the other night that he wants the law on the side of victims, not those who break it, as now appears.

But then he would, wouldn't he? It's a vote winner, well everywhere except among the criminal ranks, who won't vote Tory anyway.

Safety is very much on the minds of people who are wealthy or famous. In many cases the one accompanies the other.

Those living in parts of fashionable London are engaging companies which specialise in providing security guards and street patrols to deter the kind of violent, opportunist thieves who killed a financier, badly injured his wife and traumatised their young daughter in their home.

Crime, particularly burglary, and how far we can go to protect our homes and property is one saga which will run and run. In the meantime, don't be surprised if Michael Howard, dressed as Santa, arrives on your doorstep, handing out baseball bats, crash helmets, body armour, and small, but perfectly formed bull mastiffs.