Sharon calls on Conservative Candidate to come clean on dodgy crime figures

The Conservative Party in our area has been caught using dodgy crime statistics, thought to have been prepared by Conservative HQ, to misrepresent the level of violent crime in our communities.

Labour has responded by calling on the local Tory Candidate who used these dodgy figures to come clean and apologise for misleading local people.

The Tories have claimed that violent crime is on the rise, but the way that police recorded crime statistics was altered in 2002- making their comparisons unreliable. Since 2002, the police have categorised more types of crime as violent to allow for a more accurate measure of crime involving violence. The Tories compare the violent crime statistics pre and post 2002 to try to show an increase in violent crime. But the statistics are simply not comparable and they are misleading the public as well as local media.

Experts agree that the best long-term indicator of crime trends is the British Crime Survey, an independent study run by national statisticians rather than through police recording.  The BCS has consistently recorded a fall in violent crime over the last twelve years and a 41% drop since 1997.

David Cameron never misses an opportunity to talk Britain down. His “broken Britain” rhetoric is to a large degree based on his claim that violent crime has risen by 70% over the past decade.

Labour have challenged Mr Cameron to explain why he deliberately chooses to mislead the public – but he refuses to respond. He was equally evasive when challenged by the BBC.

Now Labour is challenging our local Conservative Party Candidate to come clean over these distorted figures.

Sharon said:

”I am not sure why the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate would want people to think that they live in a more violent and dangerous town than they do, but using the statistics in this way is misleading and scaremongering.  I know that the Conservatives like to talk down our town and tell everyone how broken Britain is, but distorting the figures in this way is only likely to make people feel unnecessarily unsafe.

“I was working for Hertfordshire Constabulary when these changes were introduced, so I know that they were implemented to ensure better recording of violent crime, including encouraging people to report domestic violence.  These were important steps to improve the way the police monitor crime and it is disappointing that the Conservatives has chosen to disregard them”

Alan Johnson MP, Labour’s Home Secretary said:

“I have asked David Cameron twice why he uses dodgy statistics to mislead the public about crime but he has not responded. Instead he and Chris Grayling prefer to continue to talk Britain down.

“Crime is down by 36% since 1997 and violent crime down by 41%. These statistics are recognised by everyone – except David Cameron and Chris Grayling – as accurate. Despite this and despite Iain Duncan Smith agreeing that the Conservatives’ comparisons are profoundly misleading, the Tories refuse to promise they will not use misleading crime statistics in the future.

“It’s one thing to make a slip up on your figures – it’s quite another to deliberately mislead.”