BLACKBURN MP Jack Straw has cast himself in the role of hard man. The Shadow Home Secretary's new proposals to deal with young offenders are certainly a step in the right direction, though they don't go far enough in the eyes of many ordinary, law-abiding citizens, who have been victims of these young thugs.

This column has long campaigned for tougher measures against the wave of juvenile crime. The current statutory slap on the wrist is not only a snub to those offended against, but a spur to the 'Jesse Jameses' of the world, who continue to laugh at ineffective laws.

Since when has a 'caution' proved much if anything of a deterrent? Rarely, if ever, according to police, who must be heartily sick of arresting persistent offenders, only to see them walk away, free to offend again.

Jack Straw's proposed 'final warning' will replace the current system of multiple cautions, which have the same effect as using sticking plaster to treat an accidental amputation!

But what happens if, as I strongly suspect, Mr Straw's final warnings are treated with the same scorn as the current wave of multiple cautions? Will his avowed intention to make 'more effective use of secure accomodation for persistent young offenders' mean they are taken off the streets and banged up in an institution where harsh discipline just might persuade them to change their ways? One very much hopes so.

Similarly Labour's plans to make parents face up to their responsibilities and the consequences of their children's actions must be rigidly implemented if it is to have any effect at all.

Many parents are only too happy to see the back of their youngsters after meal times and have little or no idea what mischief they are up to.

The real tragedy is that Britain has become a nation of shoulder-shruggers; we seem immune to these outrages unless directly affected by them. And the daily diet of violence served up on our television screens, while momentarily shocking, is all too soon digested and forgotten in the frantic scramble to keep our own show on the road.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is THE saddest part of this whole sorry mess. We have become insulated and isolated from reality. Without knowing it we are following the American example of building walled communities - maybe only metaphorical ones at present, but the others will come - with the good guys inside and the bad guys outside. Do we really want to live like that?

Jack Straw may or not be a visionary; may or not be a good Home Secretary when, not if, he gets the job. But even his harshest critics must concede that he is prepared to tackle the problem of youth crime head on. That's a start.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.