PAINFUL though it may be for him, I am sure that genial Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans will nonetheless manage an ironic smile.

For soon after his pledging in this newspaper to get fit and become a 'leaner, meaner machine' he was walloped by a thief who tried to walk off with a case of beer from his family's shop in Swansea.

Quite unfunny, though, was Mr Evans' experience of having to spend Christmas Eve in casualty for treatment to the injuries to his face, pictured.

Even more unfunny is his belief that despite the government's 'tough on crime' posture, such violent crime is on the increase because it is simply not tough enough on thugs.

Mr Evans complains that if they are caught, they chance getting away with a slap on the wrist and that if they are sent to prison, it is not long before they are out because of the early-release system.

And no matter how many political points he may be trying to score, surely, in urging Home Secretary Jack Straw to talk to ordinary people about crime problem, the sore Ribble Valley MP issues a valid challenge in asking him to discover how much popular support there is for criminals being let out of jail early.

What is wrong with them having to do the full stretch - paying a much more realistic debt to society and being prevented from committing more crime?

Perhaps Mr Evans' revised New Year wish ought to be for Mr Straw to become a leaner, meaner machine when facing up to offenders.

But when it is shown that not one burglar has received the three-year sentence under the policy introduced for offenders convicted for a third time, then shopkeeper Mr Evans might conclude 'tough on crime' is only window dressing.