‘Fare dodging costs Transport for London £130m a year’

T was impressive to see Tory MP Robert Jenrick confronting suspected fare-dodgers on the London Underground.

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Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani popularised the “broken windows” approach by cracking down hard on misdemeanours that cumulatively created a sense of lawlessness which led to more major crime.

By doing so, he transformed a declining, shabby city. We need that same approach in Britain now.

The Shadow Justice Secretary took no small personal risk by approaching young men who had pushed through barriers without paying their fares.

One of them claimed to have a knife. Lefty commentators might have sneered, but fare dodging costs Transport for London £130million a year and ordinary taxpayers are sick of it. Everyday defiance of law and order is becoming the signature of our age.

Our streets are fly-tipped, dirty and graffiti is spreading like weeds. Motorists ignore the Highway Code with abandon and shoplifters barge through shops grabbing handfuls of goods while shop-owners are discouraged from accosting them either because they'll end up being charged for assault or they face being attacked.

Ironically, Mr Jenrick was chided for not getting permission from TfL to film the alleged fare-dodgers.