Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper pointed to the famous quote made by Sir Tony 30 years ago when he held the same frontbench position.

"It was right then, it's right now," she added. "It's what we did then, it's what we'll do again."

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Speaking at the Institute for Government in London, Ms Cooper launched a scathing attack on the Conservative Party, saying they had "totally failed to deliver a policing and justice system fit for the 2020s", and that there was "no sense of direction or urgency about the challenges communities face".

She said that, under a Labour government, there would be a "fundamentally different approach" to the "shocking level of chaos" under the current Home Office leadership.

The shadow minister reiterated her party's plan for a £360m package to recruit 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers and PCSOs, paid for through a "police efficiency programme" to increase shared services and procurement.

"Neighbourhood policing shouldn't be seen as a Cinderella service," she said. "It should be the building block on which the rest of policing is based - not left to the edges of policing, but protected and prioritised."

Ms Cooper also said Labour would introduce new mandatory requirements on vetting standards and misconduct through legislation to help increase trust in forces, after cases such as the murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, and the multiple rapes committed by serving officer David Carrick.

More broadly, Ms Cooper said Labour "believes in active government", so would do more prevention work on crime, and have "active strategies in vital areas", including violence against women and girls, fraud, youth violence and anti-social behaviour.

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She said the change would stop policing from being "a reactive crisis response service instead of proactive and solving".

Ms Cooper also promised that the Home Office would work with councils, community groups, businesses, the NHS, schools and the voluntary sector to improve on policies.

"Over 13 years, the Conservatives have let communities down," she said. "Only Labour is the party of law and order now."

But Home Office minister Robert Jenrick defended the government's record on policing and attacked Labour as being "soft on crime".

He told broadcasters: "Labour's plans aren't credible. In fact, they are one tenth of the investment that we are making this year in frontline policing.

"The facts speak for themselves. We are on course to recruit 20,000 police officers by the end of March and at that point there will be more frontline officers in this country than at any point in our history."

Mr Jenrick also targeted Labour's voting record in Parliament, adding: "They voted against the Police and Courts and Sentences Bill that imposed higher sentences for the most heinous offences like sexual violent crimes.

"They voted against the Nationalities and Borders Act that makes it easier for us to deport the most violent criminals from other countries out of the United Kingdom.

"We are backing up our plans, giving the police the funds they need. Since 2020 we have increased funding for police forces by 45% - well above inflation.

"We are going to support chief constables to take a tough line on crime and nobody is fooled by Labour's approach. They have been soft on crime in the past and their voting records suggest they still are."