A review from the House of Commons Library has found that every form of theft saw a stark rise last year, with crime overall increasing by over ten per cent.
In the nine months between January and September of last year, the overall number of crimes rose from 3,742,541 to 4,174,205 compared to the same time period during the previous year. This was accompanied by an increase in every statistical form of theft, with personal theft, including pickpocketing, increasing by 59 per cent to 75,906 incidents.
Meanwhile, thefts of motor vehicles spiked by 30 per cent 97,225, the highest level of any year since at least 2014, according to The Telegraph. The study also found that domestic burglaries increased by 6 per cent to 142,430 and muggings rose by 18 per cent, however, both of these categories were brought in line with their pre-lockdown levels.
The review, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, went on to state that the number of arsons, rape, stalking offences, violent crimes, and weapons-related offences all were higher than any level since at least 2014, throwing into question the often touted excuse of the Chinese coronavirus crisis and the ensuing lockdowns as a reason for a spike in crime.
According to the paper, there was an eight per cent rise in rape to 52,744 incidents, an 11 per cent rise in violent crime without injury to 627,740, a 13 per cent rise in violence with injury to 437,141, and a 27 per cent spike in arson to 22,842 cases.
The Home Affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, Alistair Carmichael said: “This Conservative Government is asleep at the wheel when it comes to tackling crime, which is spiralling under their watch. Too focused on their party’s own scandals, the Conservatives are letting down victims by allowing criminals to run riot across the country.
“Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing, where local people are supported by their police team who have the time to focus on preventing crime.”
Amid the soaring crime rates, there has been increased scrutiny also placed on the woke policing, which has seen police forces criticised for focussing on supposedly offensive content posted on social media rather than committing the precious manpower hours to preventing or solving real-life crimes.
Thousands of ordinary citizens in Britain have been arrested for being “grossly offensive” or intentionally causing “annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another” on the internet.
Though both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his short-lived predecessor in the office Liz Truss have paid lip service to bringing the focus of policing back onto the streets rather than on tweets, the Conservative government still seems intent on pushing through the Online Safety Bill, which civil liberties campaigners have warned will only increase the level of state censorship in the country, and therefore likely to unnecessarily add to the burden of police forces.
In response to the rise in crime, a Home Office spokesman said: “The Crime Survey is the best measure of overall crime and theft. It shows total crime in the year to September 2022 decreased by 10 per cent compared with the pre-pandemic year to March 2020, and theft decreased by 20 per cent.
“As the Office for National Statistics make clear in their publication, the rises in police-recorded crime between 2021 and 2022 are influenced by both the easing of Covid restrictions and changes to reporting and recording by the police.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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