Hughes calls for all violent criminals to be jailed

The Liberal Democrats will seek to shed their image as "soft on crime" today with tough new policies for tackling violent behaviour, child pornographers and drug dealers.

As the party's conference starts in Brighton, Simon Hughes, its home affairs spokesman, will demand that violent criminals be jailed automatically. He will also propose that anyone who is found guilty of "violence against the individual" should be sent to prison but that other offenders should be kept out of jail except as a last resort.

Dangerous drivers would also face jail, as would people found guilty of peddling child pornography or dealing in hard drugs. Career criminals who failed to respond to other forms of punishment would also be locked up.

Shoplifters, pickpockets and recreational drug users would be offered "alternative sentences" such as community service or rehabilitation. The policy is designed to attract Tory voters and increase pressure on the Government over its failure to tackle the rise in violent offences.

It is part of a wider strategy to reposition the party as more confident and capable of government. Senior aides to Charles Kennedy, the party leader, have persuaded him that the Liberal Democrats must be more aggressive, particularly towards the Tories, who they believe are floundering as an opposition. Mark Oaten, chairman of the parliamentary party, has said that the party could form a government within eight years.

Mr Kennedy spelt out his desire to reshape the party's image yesterday by saying the party would focus on locking up criminals where "the integrity of the individual is violated in a violent way".

He added: "We are saying that we want a seriously enlightened approach and one that is effective towards crime. We want to demonstrate greater vigour where violent crime is concerned."

The policy shift follows research by the party showing that fear of violent crime is increasing in rural and urban areas. But the uncompromising stance could prove controversial among delegates at the Liberal Democrat conference who favour rehabilitation of criminals. The party will debate a motion today calling for more emphasis on "restorative justice" to give the victim more say in the treatment of offenders and make criminals understand at first-hand the implications of their crimes.

It will say prison has a low success rate in preventing reoffending and should only be applied "where justified by the gravity of the crime – or by the offender's failure to respond to alternative sentences". A controversial new custody-plus proposal, designed to reduce the prison population, would allow some prisoners to serve half of their sentence in jail with the rest on probation.

In a speech from the platform today, Mr Hughes is expected to say that a single violent crime against an individual would mean jail.

But he will say that prisons are being clogged by people who should not be in jail, including women who cannot pay their bills or television licence.

Meanwhile, Matthew Taylor, the party's Treasury spokesman, will attack Gordon Brown for "flying by the seat of his pants" on the economy. He will say it is badly unbalanced while arguing that the Chancellor is hiding behind the five tests on the euro.