For far too long criminals have been having the last laugh.

Now, with a new Prime Minister and Home Secretary, the tide will turn.

Urgent, and much-needed, changes are under way.

Priti Patel’s announcement on Sunday, that police officers in all 43 police forces across England and Wales will now use enhanced stop-and-search powers, was backed by 74 per cent of respondents in a YouGov poll.

It followed an almost daily litany of stabbings and violent crime which, along with two attempted murders of police officers this week, have added to the sense of a failing justice system.

It’s time. Ms Patel says, for the perpetrators and not their victims to “literally feel terror”.

In a series of announcements this week, Boris Johnson has added his muscle.

He’s already ordered the recruitment of 20,000 police officers missing from the front line and promised an end to the automatic, early releases of prisoners.

The latest MoJ figures show these increased by 60 per cent in a year, with almost half re-offending within the first three months of 2019.

Instead, new prisons to house 10,000 more inmates will be built, and sentences served in full, with remission only for good behaviour.

New moves to block illicit drones and mobile phone signals on prison estates will be welcomed by prison officers who battle daily to keep drugs out and discipline up.

There’s more to come and, despite the predictable carping, the public’s reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

Like many other issues, this one had reached tipping point.

Some suggest that Mr Johnson is electioneering early, but what of it?

If he’s delivering what we’re crying out for, he deserves our support.