LISTENING to people's grumbles as I stood in the butcher's queue the other day, I soon came to the conclusion that the vast majority of people in Britain feel increasingly under threat from crime.

That they have little faith in the authorities that are supposed to tackle it and public confidence is dwindling in the old adage that once proclaimed "good will triumph over evil."

The opinion of the general public can, I believe, be encapsulated in the following Ten Commandments, which should be engraved in tablets of stone, brought down from the mountain, and set before the feet of David Blunkett MP.

1. Thou shall build more prisons.

2. Life shall mean life.

3. Ten years shall mean ten years.

4. Thou shall not receive time off for good behaviour.

5. Thou may however, earn small privileges for good behaviour.

6. Bad behaviour shall see privileges removed.

7. Hard labour is both effective as a punishment and a deterrent and shall be included as part of any sentence.

8. All those convicted of committing violent offences shall be sent to prison.

9. All those convicted of burglary, which is often traumatic for the victim, shall be sent to prison.

10. Prison shall not always have to rehabilitate. Sometimes it is good enough just to get the scum of society off our streets.

MRS JEAN ALLISON, Whalley Road, Shuttleworth, Ramsbottom.