The Front exalted self-sufficiency, asserting that the individual should be willing to serve the state and that citizens' rights should be subordinate to their duties. During the 1970s, the Front expressed opposition to the UK's welfare state as it then existed, stating that it wanted to end the perception of the UK as a "loafer's paradise". Since its early years, the NF promoted a tough stance on law and order, calling for harsher sentences for criminals, tougher prisons, and the reintroduction of both capital punishment, and national service. It rejected the idea that an individual's misdeeds should be attributed to their societal background, placing an emphasis on self-responsibility. The party focused on crimes committed by black people and migrants, and linked racially integrated schools with crime, saying that "every white parent whose children attend racially integrated schools" would be aware of "negro crime ... Rapes, muggings, and even murder".