Labour under fire for wrong crime data

By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

London

Oct. 24: The Labour government led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced severe criticism over the failure of the police forces to accurately record serious violent crime.

The home office, which released crime statistics for April-June 2008, admitted that some police forces may have been mis-reporting the violent crimes figures for more than 10 years. The latest figures showed a 22 per cent increase in the most serious violent crime and a 28 per cent increase in attempted murders with a knife.

Explaining the reason for steep increase in figures, home secretary Jacqui Smith said: "Last year we reduced police targets to give it greater flexibility to deal with local crime problems, and to prioritise tackling most serious violence. We revised offence categories for recording the most serious violence and clarified our guidance to police forces."

"This change means that this quarter’s figures are not comparable with last year’s," she added.

The Labour government was criticised by the Opposition Conservative Party, which blamed the Labour’s "obsession with spin" for its failure to deliver crime statistics that reflect what is happening on streets and in communities.