I DON’T BELIEVE IT!

Alan Johnson, the new Home Secretary admitted yesterday that the public are "entitled" to doubt official crime statistics

In his first speech in the post, he accepted people's perception of anti-social behaviour and levels of crime was " very different" to national figures.

Official crime statistics published in April showed that overall crime was down despite knife-point robberies, burglaries and theft offences all rising.

Louise Casey, the Government's anti-social behaviour Tsar, admitted at the time that public trust in the Government was so low that people were no longer surprised if figures turned out to be false.

"People are entitled to doubt the statistics. They are entitled to say 'my perception is very different to those statistics'", Mr Johnson said in his speech in London.

Mr Johnson also admitted that Labour has been "complacent" and dragged its feet over tackling anti-social behaviour, admitting that victims of the worst anti-social offenders are waiting as long as two years for an Asbo to be served on them.

He vowed to speed up the process by setting time limits and restricting the number of court adjournments allowed when applying for an order.

Mr Johnson said it has got to the stage that victims feel they are the "nuisance", rather than the perpetrators, if they report anti-social behaviour, or they feel the authorities will not take them seriously.

He admitted there is not a "quick fix" for tackling the worst offenders but revealed it is still taking up to two years to obtain an Asbo against even them.

And there is "no hope of respite" in the meantime as "persistent harassment, defacement of property and intimidation encroach upon every aspect of life".

Chris Grayling, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "Alan Johnson says the Government has been 'complacent' in tackling anti-social behaviour. But in the next breath he contradicts himself by boasting that the Home Office has done so much to improve the quality people's lives over the past 12 years.

"On the same day we found out that Britain has the highest violent crime rate in Europe, his comments show just how complacent and out of touch this Government really is."

So, have the last ten years figures been lies then?

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