Prime minister Tony Blair unveiled yesterday his government?s five-year strategy for tackling crime with an acknowledgement Britons have yet to sense an improvement in public safety.

Crime and anti-social behaviour are expected to figure prominently in a general election expected next year, with Blair?s critics accusing him of failing to deliver on his pledge to be ?tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?. Blair will set out three key components: the need for more uniformed police; a shift from tackling the offence to tackling the offender and more powers for local communities and police to deal with offenders on the spot. ?People do not want a return to old prejudices and ugly discrimination but they do want rules, order and proper behaviour,? he will say, according to his Downing Street office.

?They want a society of respect. They want a society of responsibility. They want a community where the decent law-abiding majority are in charge, where those that play by the rules do well and those that don?t get punished.? Blair will say his seven-year-old government has lowered crime, such as burglary rates, but that people have yet to sense that.

Under the plan, about 5,000 of Britain?s most persistent offenders will be targeted and tagged, using satellite tracking devices.

?Those who are known as prolific offenders ... where actually sending them to jail hasn?t cured their prolific criminality, if we can track them, we not only know where they are but we can use other support mechanisms to intervene,? Home Secretary David Blunkett told BBC radio.

The strategy is also expected to feature further measures to tackle sex offenders, anti-social behaviour, often fuelled by binge-drinking, while tagging for first time offenders will be extended.

?You can see on sex offenders really tough action while modernising the 100 year outdated law on sex offences in a way that had not been tackled before,? Blunkett said. The opposition Conservative Party dismissed the strategy, saying that violent crime has risen under Blair?s government. ?You would think that this government hadn?t been in office for seven years, you would think we didn?t have a million violent crimes for the first time which is what we had last year,? Conservative Party chairman Liam Fox told BBC TV. The crime plan is one of a string of announcements on government strategy to improve public services as Blair seeks to shift the focus back to the domestic agenda that wins or loses elections and away from the Iraq war.