I note one of the key issues in Prime Minister Blair's speech at the Labour Party conference was crime, saying the Government is committed to dealing with it.

He must have been having a laugh because most victims of crime will tell you that, regardless of whether the perpetrator is or is not apprehended, the best you can expect from Sussex police is a crime number.

The police will give every absurd excuse in the book for not charging the toe-rags.

The simple reason is neither the police nor the Government is remotely concerned about dealing with the everyday criminals who make ordinary working people's lives a misery.

They cannot afford to because police resources are spent on dealing with the increase in demonstrators since Labour took office and terrorist threats since Bush and Blair decided to invade Iraq.

-Dean Martin, Patcham, Brighton