Sarah Jones, the Shadow Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, has vowed to tackle spiking in Darlington and the wider North East by increasing testing and joining up disconnected authorities. 

These promises follow reports of a prevalent spiking issue within the town, which garnered national political attention. In January, Darlington's Conservative MP, Peter Gibson, met with Suella Braverman to discuss crime in the nighttime economy. 

However, on a visit to Darlington's Number Forty, Sarah Jones said that this did not go far enough - and said that spiking needed to be dealt with by tackling the systematic issues that prevent the crime from being reported and perpetrators convicted. 

Ms Jones was invited to Number Forty, a safe space for revellers, by Labour Parliamentary candidate Lola McEvoy to discuss Labour’s stance on violence against women and girls. For Labour, this would mean increasing testing availability and reviewing prevention methods on offer.

Read more: Shadow Policing secretary vows to tackle North East knife crime

In an exclusive interview, Ms Jones said: “We don’t know enough, and the police don’t know enough, about the problem of spiking. Labour has promised to review licensing laws, how resources are distributed, and what precautions are put in place.”

Ms McEvoy has been campaigning for additional funding for anti-spiking tests. Inspired by a pilot scheme launched by Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Trust, Ms McEvoy is hopeful better testing in Darlington could see more convictions, and help authorities highlight crime hotspots.

Get more from The Northern Echo. Save 20% on a Premium Plus digital subscription this month. 

In Norwich, selected clubs and bars offered anti-spiking kits, so anyone who thinks they, or a friend, has been spiked, can ask at the bar for a kit to provide a urine sample, which is submitted to the Hospital Trust's lab for testing.

The Shadow Minister for Policing and the Fire Service has backed Ms McEvoy’s campaign for increased funding – and Ms McEvoy is set to meet with the scientists who launched the pilot scheme in Norfolk and Norwich in the coming months.

Ms Jones explained that spiking could be an “escalator crime” – where criminals go on to commit increasingly serious offences against women and girls – so tackling it efficiently is key.

Read more: MP Peter Gibson "reassures" Home Secretary over spiking incidents

Ms McEvoy added: “Prosecution seems to be the problem – the system seems to be clogging there. Departments are in silos rather than working together. You have to have had a really horrible experience yourself to understand how bad it is. At the moment, you can see how people would get disillusioned.”

Ms Jones added: “We need to build confidence in the police again. We are coming off the back of high-profile police scandals, like Sarah Everard, David Carrick, and Stephen Port.”

"Labour will introduce national legal standards, and standards in policing and vetting, to combat the current perception of the police."

Both Ms Jones and Ms McEvoy criticised the incumbent’s stance on tackling crime in the nighttime economy.

Ms Jones said: “It is a sign of a long-dying government that they are not taking this seriously.”

Read next:

Ms McEvoy added: “MP Peter Gibson has had a very ‘keep calm and carry on’ attitude to spiking in Darlington.”

In response, Mr Gibson said: “Sarah Jones visited Darlington and very sadly failed to follow appropriate parliamentary protocols and did not notify me in advance of her visit.

“Testing has been provided in the venue, the police, and at Number Forty through the Safer Streets Initiative. Having taken the issue up with the Home Secretary, sufficient legislation is in place to prosecute offenders, what is required is catching the culprit.”