In the sentence "his successor, John Reid, is busily putting the boot into everyone else, lambasting judges for being soft on crime and scaring the daylights out of his department.", the phrase "scare the daylight out of" is closest in meaning to ______.

A． The offenders should be punished more severely.
B． Tony Blair was supportive of the rights of victims.
C． Neither offenders nor victims are pleased with the status quo of the administration of justice.
D． The rights of the victims were greatly impaired.