Ken Livingstone likes facts. He says reported crime is down and he's right, it really is down.
When he recently said so to an audience on TV they laughed at him in disbelief.
I wish he had tried harder to convince them. He might have, because their understanding is based not on reality but on the conception of crime, thanks largely to newspaper and TV stories.
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Ask any editor, what sells papers? Royalty, sex and crime, of course. And the dailies often turn these into major campaigns. Is it any surprise that their readers end up misinformed and fearful of crime?
Victims are often quoted reacting bitterly to their loss and we must share their anger with sympathy and understanding. Nevertheless, crime really is down, by 12 per cent! Go ask a policeman!
By contrast, gun crime is up, yet fewer people have been hurt by them. This is not to minimise the total unacceptability of any and every single use of a gun.
Thank heavens, thanks largely to Ken's extra police on the beat, the figure for serious injuries is down. It is almost impossible to comprehend the horror of those deaths, mostly of the young, but at least it is not more.
These are the facts. What are Boris's facts?
Honestly, I'm scratching my head here. He's been given a million quid to beat Ken, that's one. And two, he's certainly got hopes. That's about it.
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