Sunday, August 26, 2007

I'm starting to like the Telegraph

At first glance,
Home Office information appears to support Clarke's fanciful promises. It says: "The risk of becoming a victim of crime has fallen to the lowest level recorded since the British Crime Survey began in 1981... violent crime has fallen by 43 per cent since its peak in 1995."
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Do you believe this guff? No, neither do I. And do you know why we don't believe it? Right, because it's not true. Those who seek to hoodwink us with these damned lies and dodgy statistics are insulting our intelligence. They are taking us for mugs.

In a week when little Rhys Jones was gunned down and Learco Chindamo, the killer of headmaster Philip Lawrence, discovered that his human rights count for more than the victim's family's, you'll forgive me, I hope, for listing some discomforting facts.

The British Crime Survey (BCS), a poll of 40,000 people, is what Labour's propagandists trot out when under fire. The trouble is, the survey reads a bit like the report and accounts of an ethically challenged company: much inconvenient evidence is omitted.

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