ANNE McIntosh will receive widespread support for her Bill to allow householders to use greater force against burglars.

The public demand for just such a move has been apparent since January last year, when it topped a BBC poll to find the most popular proposed new law.

This came as no surprise. For years it has been apparent that the law is skewed in favour of protecting criminals' rights at the expense of their victims. A series of prosecutions against people who fought back against burglars underlined that trend.

True, these cases were rare. But they left burglars believing they were safe to go about their business, while householders wondered what they were legally entitled to do if their property were targeted. In rural areas, such as Ms McIntosh's Vale of York constituency, this concern is heightened by the knowledge that the police are a long way away.

The idea of a new legal definition, allowing residents to use all but "grossly disproportionate" force, has already been endorsed by the outgoing Metropolitan police commissioner Sir John Stevens and even, briefly and pre-election, by Tony Blair.

He said that the Government wanted to send "a very, very clear signal to people that we are on the side of the victim, not the offender".

If the Prime Minister is still keen to send that signal, he should support Ms McIntosh's Bill.

Updated: 11:07 Monday, June 13, 2005