THE BRITISH Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard, attempted to defend the government's record on law and order yesterday after new figures revealed that violent crime in Britain had dramatically risen by 10 per cent, the largest increase in eight years.
The Home Office's annual statistics also revealed a national increase in crime of 0.4 per cent for the first time in three years. Serious violent offences, including murder and manslaughter, had increased by IS per cent, whilst sexual offences were up by 2 per cent and the number of violent robberies, the majority being muggings, had increased by IS per cent.
The Shadow Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, seized upon the figures, claiming they revealed Mr Howard's "arrogant complacency" in the fight against crime. "A year ago Michael Howard was trumpeting that the crime figures showed a real turning point in the fight against crime. I hope he has now discovered that empty words are no substitute for an effective strategy," he added. However, Mr Howard insisted that although the increase was a matter of concern, he defended the government's record describing the long term picture as "encouraging".
"It is a matter of concern and I make no bones about that. There are reasons to believe that if you look at particularly the fastest growing parts of the rise in violent crime, particularly domestic violence and sexual crime, that has something to do with the rise in reporting," he said.
But Mr Paul Cavadino, the chairman of the Penal Affairs Consortium, said the figures proved that Mr Howard's policy that a prison sentence deterred criminals had failed.
"The recorded crime figures show an increase in overall crime and a particularly sharp rise in violent offences over a year when the prison population rose from 51,086 in June 1995 to 55,256 in June 1996, an increase which could have filled a new prison the size of Dart moor every eight weeks," he added.