http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/crime/article/0,2763,341717,00.html
Crime rise adds to Blair
woes
Policing crime: special report
Nicholas Watt and Alan Travis
Monday July 10, 2000
Tony Blair will attempt to bury details of an
alarming rise in violent crime across the country
by publishing a series of embarrassing Home
Office statistics on the same day as Gordon Brown
unveils his headline-grabbing spending review.
In a sign of the growing panic in Downing Street
that ministers are losing the initiative on law and
order, the annual crime figures will be slipped
out on July 18 at virtually the same moment as
the chancellor announces a massive hike in
government spending on health and education.
Ministers are said to be deeply alarmed at the
Home Office figures which are expected to show
that recorded crime in England and Wales has
risen by about 3% in the past year and is
accelerating, with violent crime rising by more
than 10%.
Ann Widdecombe, the shadow home secretary, last
night accused the government of a cynical attempt
to manipulate the news. "Ministers are so
transparent," Ms Widdecombe said. "This is yet
another pathetic attempt at spin, but the
difference now is that people are wised up to the
ways of this government."
Her criticism came as the government underlined
its concerns over crime by appointing the former
BBC director general Lord Birt as a special unpaid
adviser on crime.
At the personal invitation of the prime minister,
Lord Birt will work unpaid for the government
one day a week to tackle "deep-seated issues".
Downing Street said that Lord Birt, who will
continue to sit in the Lords as a crossbencher, had
been chosen because he could bring an outsiders'
view to crime.
His appointment was criticised yesterday by the
Tories and Liberal Democrats as a poor response
to rising crime. Simon Hughes, the Liberal
Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "After 18
years in opposition and three years in government
and the huge amount of facts, figures and research
already available, what has Labour been doing?
Soundbites and supremos are not enough."
John Prescott defended the appointment, saying
that Lord Birt would help the government to
continue to be tough on crime.
However, the appointment, which comes hard on
the heels of the prime minister's ill-fated
"cashpoint initiative" to tackle drunken yobs,
indicates a growing worry among ministers that
they are losing the initiative on crime.
Ministers will attempt to play down the crime
increases by focusing on the continuing fall in
domestic burglaries which have dropped by 28%
over the past five years to their lowest level for a
decade.
The prime minister, who believes that Labour's
"tough on crime tough on the causes of crime"
message was a crucial factor in his landslide
election victory, attempted to regain the initiative
at the end of last month by floating the idea of
marching drunken yobs to cashpoints to pay
on-the-spot fines. Within days this was shot down
as unworkable by police.
Whitehall sources were surprised when Mr Blair
continued to talk about law and order initiatives
after his embarrassing climbdown. The sources
expected that the prime minister would move on
to other issues in the immediate aftermath of his
son's arrest and reprimand last week for being
drunk and incapable.
The panic over law and order comes amid signs
that senior ministers fear that the government is
failing to communicate effectively with voters. It
was confirmed yesterday that the prime
minister's official spokesman, Alastair Campbell,
has been instructed to report to Mr Prescott once
a week on how he is succeeding in selling the
government's achievements.
In a defensive letter to the deputy prime minister
Mr Campbell insisted that he did have "a
reasonable success rate in getting our agenda up".
Crime rise adds to Blair
woes
Policing crime: special report
Nicholas Watt and Alan Travis
Monday July 10, 2000
Tony Blair will attempt to bury details of an
alarming rise in violent crime across the country
by publishing a series of embarrassing Home
Office statistics on the same day as Gordon Brown
unveils his headline-grabbing spending review.
In a sign of the growing panic in Downing Street
that ministers are losing the initiative on law and
order, the annual crime figures will be slipped
out on July 18 at virtually the same moment as
the chancellor announces a massive hike in
government spending on health and education.
Ministers are said to be deeply alarmed at the
Home Office figures which are expected to show
that recorded crime in England and Wales has
risen by about 3% in the past year and is
accelerating, with violent crime rising by more
than 10%.
Ann Widdecombe, the shadow home secretary, last
night accused the government of a cynical attempt
to manipulate the news. "Ministers are so
transparent," Ms Widdecombe said. "This is yet
another pathetic attempt at spin, but the
difference now is that people are wised up to the
ways of this government."
Her criticism came as the government underlined
its concerns over crime by appointing the former
BBC director general Lord Birt as a special unpaid
adviser on crime.
At the personal invitation of the prime minister,
Lord Birt will work unpaid for the government
one day a week to tackle "deep-seated issues".
Downing Street said that Lord Birt, who will
continue to sit in the Lords as a crossbencher, had
been chosen because he could bring an outsiders'
view to crime.
His appointment was criticised yesterday by the
Tories and Liberal Democrats as a poor response
to rising crime. Simon Hughes, the Liberal
Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "After 18
years in opposition and three years in government
and the huge amount of facts, figures and research
already available, what has Labour been doing?
Soundbites and supremos are not enough."
John Prescott defended the appointment, saying
that Lord Birt would help the government to
continue to be tough on crime.
However, the appointment, which comes hard on
the heels of the prime minister's ill-fated
"cashpoint initiative" to tackle drunken yobs,
indicates a growing worry among ministers that
they are losing the initiative on crime.
Ministers will attempt to play down the crime
increases by focusing on the continuing fall in
domestic burglaries which have dropped by 28%
over the past five years to their lowest level for a
decade.
The prime minister, who believes that Labour's
"tough on crime tough on the causes of crime"
message was a crucial factor in his landslide
election victory, attempted to regain the initiative
at the end of last month by floating the idea of
marching drunken yobs to cashpoints to pay
on-the-spot fines. Within days this was shot down
as unworkable by police.
Whitehall sources were surprised when Mr Blair
continued to talk about law and order initiatives
after his embarrassing climbdown. The sources
expected that the prime minister would move on
to other issues in the immediate aftermath of his
son's arrest and reprimand last week for being
drunk and incapable.
The panic over law and order comes amid signs
that senior ministers fear that the government is
failing to communicate effectively with voters. It
was confirmed yesterday that the prime
minister's official spokesman, Alastair Campbell,
has been instructed to report to Mr Prescott once
a week on how he is succeeding in selling the
government's achievements.
In a defensive letter to the deputy prime minister
Mr Campbell insisted that he did have "a
reasonable success rate in getting our agenda up".