Airbrushing pictures isn't enough, the Tories are now airbrushing the statistics. We saw that with Chris Grayling and his abuse of the crime figures, to the point where the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority felt that he had to intervene, warning that Grayling's wilful misinterpretation of the figures waslikely to damage public trust in official statisticsGrayling's flailing defence of the indefensible, attempting to claim that the changes in recording methods didn't affect his argument - which is utter rubbish.Then this week, we've had a minor decimal error in a report, which now states that 54% of girls in the most deprived areas get pregnant before the age of 18.The actual figure is 5.4%.Perhaps it was a simple mistake, but why did nobody spot it?Is it that they don't understand...

"No matter how hard shadow home secretary Chris Grayling tried to sound convincing, there was a little wobble in the back of his throat betraying the fact he wasn't even persuading himself.He was trying to refute claims the Tory party had misrepresented statistics to make it look like violent crime had gone up more than it actually had under Labour.But within seconds he began to sound like someone with a complex for being short, who stands in front of the mirror telling themselves that size doesn't matter."Read the Evening Post Parliamentary Correspondent's full column...

Working as I do with data day in and day out the one thing you learn is that you have to compare like with like to get an actual comparison. There are little comments all over our spreadsheets which say when something started, moved or a calculation was changed. It not simply for us to keep a track on changes but also so that we know if data from different periods is comparable simply from...

Britain's head of statistics rebukes Conservatives for wrongly claiming violent crime has skyrocketed under LabourThe Conservatives are embroiled in a political row after the UK's head of statistics accused the party of misleading the public over violent crime.Sir Michael Scholar, the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, wrote to the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, after Tory activists were sent leaflets suggesting violent crime had vastly increased over the past decade under the Labour government.The Tories failed to make clear that the definition of violent crime was changed in 2002, making direct comparisons between the late 1990s and 2008-2009 unreliable."I must take issue with what you said yesterday about violent crime statistics, which seems to me likely to damage public...

Yesterday I wrote about Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling’s extraordinarily twisted use of statisticsto try to justify part of the Conservatives’ ‘Broken Britain’ narrative. Today the BBC’s Mark Easton, who broke the original story, has the newsthat Chris Grayling has just been sent a sharp letter from Parliament’s statistics watchdog, informing him that his mis-use of statistics about violent crime is ‘likely to damage public trust in official statistics’. The Chairman of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), Sir Michael Scholar, says he does ‘not wish to become involved in political controversy’,  but ‘must take issue’ with Grayling’s comments ’yesterday about violent crime statistics’. The...

This morning’s Today programme provided another of those ‘mustn’t miss’ moments, as presenter Evan Davis  took the Conservatives’ Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling to task over the party’s misleading use of crime statistics. Last week Mark Easton, the BBC’s Home Affairs editor, had asked ‘Are the Tories being honest with their claims on violent crime’: Last week, David Cameron told me that one reason he could justify the phrase “broken society” was because of “significant” increases in violent crime, notably gun and knife crime in Britain.  When I challenged him to produce the evidence, his party press office sent the BBC a list of statistics. It emerges that the only way the Conservative leader can back up his claims is to ignore the klaxon...

Delighted to hear the Conservative con on violent crime figures exposed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning.As I posted last week HERE, David Cameron's 'Broken Britain' campaign relies heavily on them being able to prove violent crime is rising...when he knows that in fact the reverse is the truth. This morning, the BBC put Mark Easton - their journalist who first publicised the Tory con - head to head with Cameron's spokesman on crime, Chris Grayling.Grayling had sent out spurious statistics to local Conservative parties across the country encouraging them to claim violent crime had risen since 1997.Mark Easton explained that the Tories had ignored official clear warnings that the figures they were sending out could not be compared due to major improvements in recording violent...

Chris Grayling was on the Politics Show this week, trying to argue in favour of a change in the law to allow homeowners to use all force that is not 'grossly disproportionate' in defence of themselves, their families and - one presumes - their property.Naturally, the appeal case last week came up for comment, but I'm not quite sure of the relevance in this case, as the injuries to the burglar came after he had left the victim's premises and been pursued down the street by the victim and his family. Surely Grayling can't be proposing that we will be allowed to wreak vengeance upon criminals. I suppose that it would save money on the courts system, but I'm not sure that it is in the interests of justice.Grayling said that nobody knows how they would react if they came acrossa burglar...

Dear Alan Johnson, I’m sure you consider yesterday’s announcement regarding sex offenders to be a fantastic success, given that the press lapped it up and the Conservatives were forced to fall into line. The plan is to let families ask police if someone with access to their child has convictions or has been previously suspected of abuse, following the trials of such a scheme in Southampton, Warwickshire, north Cambridgeshire and Stockton-on-Tees.  One can see why the media loved it, but that doesn’t mean it is all good news. “Sarah’s Law” was proposed after the kidnap and murder of 8-year-old Sarah Payne by Roy Whiting, a convicted sex offender, 10 years ago.  Her mother, Sara, a child protection campaigner, told the News of the World: “In...

Home secretary plans national launch of powers enabling parents to check whether child carers are convicted sex offendersThe Conservatives today backed plans by the home secretary, Alan Johnson, for a national roll-out of powers allowing parents to check whether those who regularly care for their children are convicted sex offenders.The decision followed a pilot scheme in four police areas – Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Cleveland and Warwickshire – which gave parents and carers controlled access to the sex offenders register.At least one police force, Avon and Somerset, refused to take part in the pilot.The decision was announced by Johnson in the News of the World, which has campaigned for what it calls "Sarah's law" – the publication of the names and addresses of convicted sex...

Today’s FThas an interview with wannabe Chancellor George Osborne, where he once again fails to give any real details of the Conservatives’ economic plans, should they win the next election. Osborne talks about his admiration for Sweden, although he is unable to put his finger on exactly why, saying: “I’m no expert on Swedish society but I am a regular viewer now of Wallander”. What next: Chris Grayling telling the Daily Mail that he is changing the Conservatives’ policies on drugs after catching up with a few episodes of Van der...

Nick Clegg made some waves this week by calling for full gay equality, and challenging the Tories and their leader David Cameron to follow his example. Well, now Lib Dem research has shown what an uphill battle the Tory leader will have on his hand even convincing his own shadow cabinet to back such moves – let alone his even more right-wing backbenchers – as The Guardian reports: Nearly a third of David Cameron’s shadow cabinet voted against gay rights legislation at some point over the last two parliaments, demonstrating their “shameful” record in tackling discrimination, according to the Liberal Democrats. They have compiled research on four examples of legislation where many Tories voted against equal rights laws. Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem home affairs...

Answer not much. In the Guardian today Chris Huhne Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman reveals how he fears gay rights would "grind to a halt" under a Conservative government. This is based on evidence of their voting records in West.• Ten out of 32 members of the shadow cabinet voted against at least one piece of gay rights legislation. The shadow Europe minister, Mark Francois,...

Dear Chris Grayling, Sometimes when I get things right or make an accurate prediction on this blog, I admit to feeling a small sense of smugness – just like every other armchair politico.  Today, however, is not a day for smugness.  When I wrote to you only a matter of weeks ago about Munir Hussain, who was jailed for 30 months after pursuing and beating a member of a gang who had tied up his family at knife-point in their home, I ended my letter with a rather sombre comment: ”If you want to pursue such a drastic change in the law then so be it, but don’t come running to me when a homeowner gets killed after starting a fight with a burglar.”  How chilling that something similar has now come to pass. Police are hunting the murderers of ‘have-a-go...

Dear readers, The recent remarks by Chris Grayling about homeowners supposedly being given more powers to defend their home was poorly judged in my opinion, and it seems I’m not the only one who finds Grayling’s proposals largely unworkable.  Keir Starmer, the Director of Prosecutions, has now rejected Grayling’s promise to review legislation to ensure that prosecutions were brought against victims of crimes acting in self defence only if their response was “grossly disproportionate”. Mr Starmer told the BBC that prosecutions were already often not brought where a householder had used force.  He said: “There are many cases, some involving death, where no prosecutions are brought. We would only ever bring a prosecution where we thought that the...

  Some police officers have always been sceptical of the effectiveness of PCSOs and argue that the public is ill-served by supposed police officers who do not have the same training as full officers and fewer powers. The Police Federation has accused the Labour Government of undermining the role of constable and “policing on the cheap”. Earlier this year a report found that PCSOs accounted for more than half of all police staff gross misconduct cases during the last financial year despite only making up about a fifth of the workforce. Senior officers at Scotland Yard – Britain’s largest force – found its PCSOs were bored and unmotivated in a review prompted after they found a disproportionate number of staff were being disciplined. They discovered PCSOs were...

Civil  servants are as bad as bankers … The Telegraph trumpets Gladstone’s anniversary … Tories support Labour’s school Sats Tests … Another dodgy Tory donor exposed … Labour split on voting reform … Lords skim expenses cream … BBC to make film on Thorpe tragedy … what Chris Huhne thinks of Prince Charles … Unions sit on money for Labour … look at who says Hauge is Vauge …and the only thing the final polls of the year can agree upon is that Liberal Democrat support is holding up Now Civil Servants join bankers in ludicrous bonuses – Daily Mail,, 24.12.09 “Civil Servants enjoyed a record £130 miillion in taxpayer-funded bonuses last year – and are in line for an even bigger sum this year. More than £350,000 a day went on performance-related pay for...

When a lawyer writes about a judicial decision, he writes about a 'judgment' (note no 'e'); when he writes about the judgement in a non judicial sense he adds the missing 'e'. This is traditional, but it also says something about the difference the lawyer will discern between a legal judgment and, for example, the judgement that we all exercise when reading the newspaper reports.Cases turn on questions of law and questions of fact. Criminal cases rarely, as I understand it, involve detailed argument about the law and so the principal decisions that the court will take concerns the facts - that is what the lay jury is for in our Crown courts. Argument about law are for the Judge to decide in Crown Courts - and he will 'direct' the jury on that law.At present, we have a law of self...

Dear Chris Grayling, You certainly won yourself a few fans among Daily Mail readers yesterday with your pledge to ‘protect’ householders who defend themselves from burglars.  Your plan is to review legislation on householders’ rights in the event of a burglar breaking into a home in light of a recent case that left many Daily Mail readers angry.  Unfortunately, pandering to the one particular group of newspaper readers is entirely inappropriate in this instance. Your comments to the Telegraph are very instructive: ”At the moment the law allows a defendant to use ‘reasonable force’ to protect him or herself, their family or their property.  Conservatives argue that the defence that the law offers a householder should be much clearer, and that...

Dear Chris Grayling, Having branded the storing of innocent people’s DNA “illegal and morally wrong” not that long ago, your reaction to new evidence from the US about the success of DNA databases would be much appreciated.  The increasing use of DNA technology has helped to drive reported rapes in America to a 20-year low - an estimated 89,000 women reported being raped in 2008 (29 women for every 100,000) compared to the 1992 peak of 109,062 (43 women in 100,000), which might leave you in a rather tricky situation. Last year the European Court of Human Rights ruled that holding all DNA samples taken by police in the course of an investigation was illegal. Responding to the ruling, Jacqui Smith ordered the profiles of all young children to be removed immediately and...

Dear Chris Grayling, After your bizarre remarks about parts of this country being like ‘The Wire’, a TV series about drug-dealing set in Baltimore, you’ve been understandably quiet on the policy front.  Yesterday saw you re-emerge with a set of proposals aimed at cracking down on alcohol-fuelled violence – some of which I applaud and some of which will clearly be pointless. Your first proposal was actually a reannouncement of something that David Cameron spoke about recently, namely higher prices on ‘anti-social alcohol’. You said “we will increase the price of a four pack of super strength lager by £1.33. We will more than double tax on super strength cider. And our planned increase on alcopops will raise the price of a large bottle by £1.50....

I have been amused by the media going bananas over the gaffe in which Tory Home Affairs Spokesman Chris Grayling got the wrong end of the stick over Gen Dannatt. It was on the same day that a certain leading BBC journo called David Cameron the "Prime Minister" and a SKY equivalent said George Osbourne was the "chancellor". These things happen, and everyone gets over them - even Political...

'I hope that this isn't a political gimmick. We've seen too many appointments in this government of external people where it's all been about Gordon Brown's PR.... I'm always suspicious of the government's motives when it does something like this.' After some re-education, Grayling changed his tune about Richard Dannatt's impending elevation to Tory advisor'I thought this was a government appointment, I'm delighted that it's a Conservative appointment... bringing in people like him... is really good news'...

My desk in the media room at Tory conference resembled a scene from CSI earlier – albeit with slightly podgier police officers.A hack had some equipment go missing and apparently someone was caught on the CCTV system pinching it.The cops came in and took fingerprints off the desk and note-books and then took them away in little plastic bags.And all not that long after Chris Grayling gave his speech on clamping down on...

Original Home Page All Contents of Site – Index Is ‘President Blair’ a shoo-in? Yes and No “Ban Blair-Baiting” petition - please sign Comment at end 7th October, 2009 IF BANNING HuT WAS THAT EASY, DON’T THE TORIES THINK IT WOULD ALREADY HAVE BEEN DONE? But populism rules, OK? And of course since they seem to be priming us for opting out of Europe altogether, given their recent misjudged behaviour in the EU parliament, perhaps Human Rights Laws will soon no longer apply in Britain. Populism again? Some of us who are unhappy with how the HR laws are used AGAINST us might even be persuaded to take no notice of the Tory alliance with Latvian and Polish right-wingers if the prize was opting out of the EU. A little bit more “honesty” in politics, please, Mr...

If we have to have a Cameron government, then I would much prefer an Iain Dale or a Dominic Grieve as Home Secretary than Chris Grayling. (All are, naturally, a disappointment compared to Home Secretary Huhne under PM Clegg!) Yet I fear Iain’s chances of getting the job are only slightly worse than Dominic Grieve’s (as the Murdoch press is rumoured to have insisted Grieve was moved from his shadow Home Office role). Writing about his visit to the Arts Alliance Music in Prisons fringe at the Tory conference, Dale notes that politicians are tough on crime when they reduce re-offending, not when they generate red-top headlines: Being tough doesn’t just mean locking people up and throwing away the key. A tough politician will take tough choices – and that means...

“The fact that once again Gordon Brown is dithering over a serious issue affecting his government is yet another sign of the vacuum of leadership in Downing Street. He seems to hope that the problem will just go away.” - Chris Grayling on Gordon Brown’s astonishing decision not to sack Baroness Scotland after she was fined £5,000 for employing an illegal immigrant as her housekeeper....

Dear Alex Hilton, One wonders whether a lack of intelligence is a pre-requisite for wanting to join the Labour Party, given the dearth of talent in the Cabinet and among the parliamentary party.  It seems as though the same question may apply to prospective parliamentary candidates like yourself as well.  Yesterday you admitted that you had created a fake site and statement from the Mayor of Baltimore, Sheila Dixon, in which the “Mayor” attacked the shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling for his suggestion that some parts of Britain are like the TV series ‘The Wire’, which is set in Baltimore. The fake statement said: “This week I was alerted to a speech made by a Member of the British Parliament, a Mr Chris Grayling, who suggested his country should fear...

Honestly! You spend most of the day in the garden and you come back to find that a top political story has broken out in the blogosphere and has done several laps.I have to say I am disappointed in Alex for doing this, not least as to why? What was the point apart from making a lame joke? That said I am equally if not more surprised that the media did not latch onto the giveaways in the hoax, such as "Midsomer Murders" and (copyright R. Monkee). As for the Americans getting angry about the whole thing and the Mayor's Office threatening legal action, I would say that, whilst I appreciate their hurt, it's something thats best swiftly forgotten.I would also say that Alex is a friend of mine. A classic example of what makes him a good ally was a few months ago I was unsure of how to deal with...

Update: You know what they say about something being too good to be true? Yes, this was. Nicely done fake, though. The Mayor of Baltimore responds to Chris Grayling’s comments, and proves that she’s got a sense of humour. Or humor, given that she’s American. o present a television show as the real Baltimore is to perpetuate a fiction that dishonours our city. It is as pointless as boasting that Baltimore has a per capita homicide rate a fraction of that in the popular UK television show Midsomer Murders. (via Liberal Conspiracy) At this rate, I give it a week before Boris Johnson is putting out a statement claiming responsibility for the fact that London hasn’t suffered an alien attack at Christmas since he was...

Lets face it. Its very easy for the Conservatives to say that a) Britain is broken, b) that some parts resemble The Wire. That is until it bears closer scrutiny, in this case there are some positive arguments concerning some of the places Chris Grayling was referring to that have undergone a positive regeneration. Perhaps he would also like to visit and tell them why he feels that their place of abode resembles The...

So, Chris Grayling has declared that parts of Britain are ‘like The Wire‘. Interestingly, BBC Two are now showing series 5 of that, where we see that a smooth-talking politician who was elected on a promise of change and a ‘new day’ turns out to have no answers to a crippling financial crisis other than cuts, cuts and more cuts. In the same spirit, I’d say Chris Grayling is like Party Animals - poorly researched and...

Another week, another keynote speech expected from a member of the shadow cabinet. Chris Grayling, prospective home secretary in a Tory government, will tomorrow expound upon the well worn Cameron Conservative theme, ‘broken Britain’, highlighting crime, gangsterism, poverty and social immobility, which he believes have flourished under the stewardship of a Labour government.It is a further development of the themes which George Osborne laid out in a recent speech at Demos, when he referred to the modern Conservative party as the ‘dominant progressive force’ in British politics. The Tories argue that they are espousing constructive social policies, in tune with a Conservative ethos, which offer the best means to tackle the unique set of problems which the United Kingdom faces....

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has created ‘identity rights’! Rejoice! He will continue to introduce ID cards by stealth, but worry not – your ‘identity rights’ will be guaranteed! The union flag has been left off the final design of the national identity card unveiled today in order to recognise the “identity rights” of Irish nationals living in Northern Ireland. Instead the ID card design unveiled by the home secretary, Alan Johnson, features a tasteful floral pattern made up of the shamrock, daffodil, thistle and rose alongside the Royal Coat of Arms. A Home Office spokesperson said today this was because “the card represents all the nations of the United Kingdom and the design reflects themes of Britishness and aspects of UK...

In the UK we can all cheer up, because our money (above) is allegedly going further. Britain’s inflation rate dipped below the government’s 2% target for the first time in almost 2 years last month as cheaper food and soft drinks helped keep the cost of living in check, according to official figures released yesterday. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell from 2.2% in May to 1.8% in June. And the broader measure of inflation using the Retail Prices Index (RPI) recorded the sharpest drop in the cost of living since 1948. Prices were 1.6% lower last month than they were in June 2008. Reassuring that according to all these official measurements, prices are falling. However, in the real world as...

The papers are full of sour assessments of Jacqui Smith's tenure at the Home Office. Yet her handling of the only major security crisis i her tenure was exemplary. And despite having half her department taken over by Jack Straw, she more than held her own in dealing with the day-to-day crises that overpower home secretaries. Where she was let down was in being forced by Downing Street to rerun the 42-day detention saga, without the necessary support, and in a failure to engage with the unelected pundits who decide whether you're any good or not. In her ten years as a minister, her talents shone through to those who saw her in action (as in dealing with the 2005 Schools Bill) but she was dealt a difficult hand with a castrated Home Office that always made her task that bit more difficult....

Today’s election broadcast from the Conservatives simply features David Cameron talking to camera about MPs and their expense claims. The message is meant to be about him facing up to the problems and talking frankly about them. But listen to his language: I want to start by saying sorry … sorry for the actions of some Conservative MPs… [The] principle of thrift should apply to Conservative MPs too. So from now on I want them to claim what is reasonable to do their job… Members of my Shadow Cabinet, including Michael Gove, Oliver Letwin and Andrew Lansley, have agreed to pay back money… Other members of the Shadow Cabinet, like Francis Maude and Chris Grayling, will not in future claim any money for their second homes… Conservative MPs who have...

Look at where the shadow cabinet is going to launch the Tory local election campaign today and you’ll see some of the authorities at which the party believes it can make the greatest gains.It’s no secret they’re targeting the midlands counties like Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, where Labour councils are scared the Government’s unpopularity might see them unseated.Liam Fox is in Devon, Michael Gove is in North Yorkshire, Alan Duncan is in Essex, Chris Grayling is in Lancashire, Francis Maude is in Derbyshire and Theresa May is in Notts.Meanwhile George Osborne is in Somerset, Eric Pickles is in Warwickshire, Grant Schapps is in East Sussex and Caroline Spelman will go with David Cameron to...

I have always been a little cynical of the phrase "broken society"; because much of society isn't broken and there are a great number of people who care for their families, their neighbours and act in a decent way. However clearly there are great challenges which need to be addressed in this area. I have said for a long time that we as a party need to "seal the deal" with voters and we could do this with some flesh on the bones of our ideas. I am glad that in recent days we have started to see this. Even if the following isn't made into policy (yet) the speech by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling about youth crime is a very good set of principles to start from. We should be shouting about these from the rooftops.1 There have to be consequences for every act of antisocial...