Norris: bring back guards

Steve Norris today pledged to make women feel safer on the Tube by having guards on every train after 10pm.

The Tory candidate put anti-crime measures at the heart of his bid to be London mayor as he launched his manifesto for the 10 June election. He also pledged a blitz on graffiti, £20 million to double the number of youth and sports centres, and New York-style weekly police meetings to monitor offences.

His "safe carriage" proposal comes as research shows 60 per cent of women feel unsafe on the Tube at night, compared to 32 per cent of men. The survey for the Transport Department, by charity Crime Concern, found nearly half of women feel unsafe at bus stops at night. Almost a third feared being attacked while in a stationary car after dark.

Under the Tory plan, security guards would travel in the middle carriage of all Tube trains after 10pm. The

carriage would be prominently marked "safe" and could be used by both men and women. They would initially be used only on routes recording the highest number of offences, but would eventually be rolled out across the whole Tube network.

The scheme is adapted from one launched in Sydney, which had a dramatic effect in cutting fear of crime.

Mr Norris is also promising extra transport police to patrol platforms, particularly in the suburbs. "It's totally unacceptable to have almost two thirds of customers afraid to use the Tube," he said. "When the evidence shows women feel so at risk, it is time for the Mayor to act. No woman should be afraid to sit on a Tube train or wait on a platform"

The idea was recommended by Mr Norris's "women's taskforce on crime", whose members included Sandra Howard, wife of the Tory leader.

Mr Norris's 32-page manifesto was launched today in Bromley. In the introduction he writes: "I live with my family in Lambeth so I have my own stake in the city's success."

He will seek to emulate New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani's "zero tolerance" approach to even low-level crimes such as vandalism and graffiti.

But Mr Norris also pledged cash for youth projects. "In too much of London, young people simply don't have enough to do," he said. "My top priority is to bring down crime. But it also means giving teenagers a real alternative to drifting into crime."