Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Boris Johnson said crime had come down by 14%. It followed a Home Office press release last week that claimed the government “continues to cut crime”.
The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) said the prime minister “did not make clear” the figure excluded fraud. It also said the Home Office had presented figures in a “misleading way”.
The authority was responding to a complaint by the Liberal Democrats, who accused Mr Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel of “fiddling the figures”.
The figures for all crimes estimated by the Crime Survey of England and Wales in fact showed a 14% increase for the period, including a 47% rise in fraud and computer misuse as people moved their lives online during the lockdowns.
But speaking in the Commons, the prime minister said crime had fallen by 14% without mentioning that this figure did not include the rise in fraud and computer crime.
Mr Johnson made the claim while taking questions from MPs following the publication of Sue Gray’s report into Downing Street parties during lockdown.
Because he gets away with it, and nobody challenges him for fear of losing their jobs. Or being escorted out of the building. Its a dictatorship, not a democracy.
The prime minister was last week rebuked by a watchdog for claiming crime had fallen by 14%, which is only correct if fraud is excluded.
He was accused by Sir Keir Starmer of “turning a blind eye to scammers” at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Mr Johnson said the government “hates online fraud” and was tackling it. But he rejected a call by Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey to “correct the record on crime figures and apologise”.
In last Monday’s Commons debate on Sue Gray’s report on lockdown parties in Downing Street, Mr Johnson said crime had come down by 14%.
But watchdog UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) said the PM “did not make clear” the figure excluded fraud.
It also criticised the Home Office for presenting the latest crime figures for England and Wales in “a misleading way” in a press release.
In its full report, the Office for National Statistics found a 14% increase in total crime in the year to September 2021, driven by a 47% increase in fraud and computer misuse, which surged during lockdown.
But crime excluding fraud and computer misuse decreased by 14%, largely driven by an 18% decrease in theft offences, the ONS said.
On Sunday, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng defended the prime minister’s use of statistics.
