One of Cheltenham’s great selling points is that it is, overwhelmingly, a safe place to live. It’s also good news that the number of police officers is going up, as a growing budget allows Gloucestershire Police to recruit heavily.
But it’s important to ensure police powers are kept up to date, to empower them to clamp down on criminal trends when they emerge.
So I welcome plans to ban the possession of nitrous oxide. The gas is known as NOS, or laughing gas, and is one of the most-used drugs by UK 16 to 24-year-olds. You’ll have seen the discarded cannisters on the roads and pavements in Cheltenham. Just this week, as I cycled round town I saw them in the road in Albion Street, and constituents have also reported problems in Montpellier Gardens, Wellington Square and at Boots Corner.
Quite apart from litter and the fact that NOS is a potent greenhouse gas, heavy use can lead to a vitamin deficiency that damages nerves in the spinal cord. We also can't have a situation where Cheltenham’s public spaces routinely become drug taking arenas.
It’s vital too that vulnerable young people do not receive mixed signals about a substance that can act as a gateway to harder drugs.
In addition, I welcome plans to bolster police powers to seize and destroy weapons, even when they are discovered in the home. The UK already has some of the strictest knife legislation in the world, as I know from prosecuting multiple offenders, and the police can take action to charge a range of crimes.
But despite so-called ‘zombie knives’ being banned in 2016, some irresponsible manufacturers have tried to get round the law by altering the designs and rebranding large blades to try to turn a fast buck.
The Government is stepping in to give the police new powers to seize and destroy all such items before they can be taken onto the streets. That’s good news.
Cheltenham is a safe place to live. Let’s keep it that way.