Member

The list in my amendment is not definitive and I am very grateful to Julian Fry, the rural affairs officer for the Devon and Cornwall constabulary. He pointed out some issues that were additional to those I had listed, in particular heritage and maritime crime. Heritage crime affects both the DCMS and the Home Office. It covers everything from stealing lead off church roofs and artefacts from buildings, often churches, which are easy targets because they are isolated. Those centuries-old carved lecterns and stone figures command high prices and the tragedy of those thefts is, as Mr Fry put it, “Once they’re gone, that heritage is lost”. The effect for communities, for tourism and for our actual history is tragic. It is not like a TV stolen from a home, which can be replaced if it is insured. These items are irreplaceable.