Spiking would be made specific criminal offence under Labour, Sir Keir Starmer announces | Politics News

Spiking someone’s drink or injecting them with drugs or alcohol will be made a specific offence under Labour, Sir Keir Starmer has announced. 

Labour would bring in the measure if it wins power as part of its plan to clamp down on violence against women and girls.

Sir Keir said that in a roundtable with actor Emily Atack and former Love Island star Georgia Harrison, the issue of spiking was raised, as was the abuse women face on social media.

Foreign secretary has a message for the China hawks in his party – politics latest

Symptoms of spiking, which happens without the victim’s knowledge or consent, can include nausea or vomiting, hallucinations and paranoia and unconsciousness.

Spiking is currently covered by several different offences but there is no single dedicated offence that police can use.

Nearly 5,000 cases of needle and drink spiking incidents were reported to police in England and Wales in the 12 months to September 2022.

Speaking on ITV’s This Morning, the Labour leader said spiking was “often a step towards sexual assault of some sort”.

He said making it a specific offence would “make it easier for people to come forward and easier to prosecute”.

Last year, the Home Affairs Select Committee of MPs recommended that the crime be made an offence in its own right.

However, ministers rejected their call in January, saying it was unnecessary and that the government had not found any “gaps in the law”.

Home Office minister Sarah Dines said at the time that there were already several offences that covered spiking incidents.

But Sir Keir said: “I think they’re wrong about that.”

He said: “It is always difficult to come forward to explain an awful experience to people you don’t know. We need to make that easier for people. We will make it easier to prosecute it.

“But I also want to draw attention to it. I want people to be talking about it and knowing about this because for every young woman who goes out this will strike real fear into them.”

He went on: “My daughter’s 12… but I’m already worrying about just in a few years, I can imagine myself pacing the living room every time she’s out, worried. There will be many parents in that situation.”

The Labour leader made the announcement just days after longstanding MP Diane Abbott was suspended from the Labour parliamentary party over a letter she wrote in the Observer, in which she suggested that Jews, Irish people and travellers do not face racism but “prejudice”.

Sir Keir said the incident was “regrettable on every level”, adding: “What she said is to be thoroughly condemned. It was antisemitic and it’s very important we acted quickly.”

Shortly after the letter was made public, Ms Abbott released a statement saying she wished to “wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them”. She also apologised for “any anguish caused”.

There have been calls by some for Labour to expel Ms Abbott from the party entirely, something the Labour leader rejected on the grounds that an investigation has been launched into her comments.

“Diane will say whatever she wants in response, and then there’ll be an outcome, so we’ll have to wait for that,” he said.

Sir Keir spent his first moments on This Morning being asked about the controversy and whether it was “frustrating” to have it sideline other issues.

“Yes, of course it is,” he said. “We’ve got local elections coming up.”

Labour has put tackling crime at the heart of its campaign for the local elections which take place on 4 May.

The party has attracted criticism in recent weeks – including from its own members – over a number of social media adverts it has used to attack the Conservatives’ record on crime.

One particularly controversial ad read: “Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn’t.”

Asked about the ads, Sir Keir said: “I don’t make any apologies for the way we’ve run our campaign. Whatever the government says, people are really worried about crime.”

Pushed on whether this was the right way to highlight the issue, he said: “It is quite right for us to attack the government hard on their record.”

He went on to say the Tories had been in power for 13 years and that frequent changes in prime minister did not make each new one lack responsibility.

Read more:
Almost 5,000 reports of needle and drink spiking made to UK police in a year
‘Terrified’ women describe blackouts and sickness after suspected spiked needle attacks

“I think we have to be tough in our criticism, and that’s what we’re being in the attack ads,” Sir Keir said.

“I stand by them, I won’t apologise for them”.

Spiking hit the headlines in October 2021, when a campaign was started calling on people to boycott nightclubs in protest at a rise in reports of drink-spiking and injections.

Universities said the increasing number of cases of spiking by injection during nights out was “incredibly disturbing”.

Dawn Dines, CEO and founder of Stamp Out Spiking, said: “I fully support the need to update or change the law to clearly show that the horrific act of spiking is a recognised criminal offence.

“This will provide protection and hopefully some justice for past victims, but most importantly it will safeguard the public against the actions of the perpetrators.

“We eagerly welcome Labour’s commitment to ensure that this crime, which is all but invisible in crime statistics due to under-reporting, is appropriately identified in law and prosecuted.”