Grayling warns knife crime remains too high in Britain

Chris Grayling accused Labour of being “complacent about our law and order problems” after the annual crime statistics revealed that 104 serious offences with a knife are committed each day.

The Home Office figures show that in 2008/09 there were over 38,000 selected serious offences involving a knife, including murder, attempted murder and robbery.

The Government has changed the measure though - despite previous criticism of its use of knife crime statistics - making it more difficult to get a true picture of knife crime in Britain.

Chris, the Shadow Home Secretary, said, “It looks like the Government is trying to cover up the scale of the problem we face with knife crime - little wonder given its policies have failed to get to grips with the challenge.”

He stressed, “Massaging the figures on knife crime twice in two years is just an insult to the families of those who have been tragically murdered in knife attacks and who are campaigning for real action to get knives off our streets.”

Home Secretary statement on annual crime statistics

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said:

“The latest crime statistics are encouraging. Since 1997 overall crime has fallen by 36 per cent - a total of six million fewer crimes, violence is down by 41 per cent and domestic burglary is down by 54 per cent.

“Today’s figures show that the reductions in crime are being maintained and the risk of being a victim is still historically low.

“Encouragingly, violent crime continues to fall with homicide figures now lower than they have been for a decade and attempted murder also falling. Overall, violent crime with injury is down seven per cent and there has been a five per cent fall in recorded robberies, now at its lowest level since 2002.

“But we are not complacent. As in previous years we see changing patterns of crime and we know that during economic downturns certain crimes face upward pressure, which is why we’ve already taken action to tackle these head-on. Although today’s figures show signs of some acquisitive crimes increasing, the Government is determined to keep these crimes down by continued investment in preventative measures, tough, targeted policing and historically high numbers of police officers.

“Of course statistics are only part of the picture and offer no comfort to victims which is why it is encouraging that confidence at a local level is rising with nearly half of people saying they feel the police and local agencies are dealing with antisocial behaviour and crime in their area.”