News from The Labour Party

Stop using dodgy statistics to mislead the public about crime Alan Johnson tells Tories

Alan Johnson MP, Labour’s Home Secretary has written to all Labour MPs and parliamentary candidates urging them to challenge their Tory opponents over the deliberate airbrushing of crime figures.

Tory MPs and PPCs have been campaigning across the country based on the misleading figures.

It follows Chris Grayling’s failure on the Today Programme to accept responsibility for the erroneous figures.

Alan Johnson MP, Labour’s Home Secretary responding to the interview 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.

“I am writing to all Labour MPs and parliamentary candidates today urging them to challenge their Tory opponents on this. It is simply not acceptable that they are talking up crime across the country when it has actually fallen.”

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