What the statistics don’t show

In my Sunday Telegraph column today, I argue that statistics cannot reflect cultural sensibilities, especially in the wake of a horror such as Rhys Jones’s murder. But if crime statistics are to be brandished at such a time let them at least be accurate. The Sunday Times reports that – contrary to Jacqui Smith’s claim that gun crime is falling – Home Office figures (which exclude incidents involving air weapons) show a fourfold rise since 1998. As David Davis says in his letter to the Home Secretary: “One clear fact on gun-related violence is that if you don’t count it, you won’t be able to tackle it.”