Kwasi Kwarteng had a wild defence of the PM for cutting fraud from the crime figures
During an exchange in the House of Commons at the end of January, Boris Johnson claimed that crime had fallen by 14 per cent under the Tories. Well, colour me astonished but that turned out not to be true.
Boris Johnson told Parliament today “we have been cutting crime by 14%.”
On Thursday, the Office of National Statistics said there has been “a 14% increase in total crime driven by a 47% increase in fraud & computer misuse.”
Prosecutions have also fallen to a record low 6%
— Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) January 31, 2022
Yes, it’s shocking – we know – but that didn’t stop the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng from defending the lie when he spoke to Sophie Raworth on Sunday Morning.
Why did PM Boris Johnson tell Parliament that Government is cutting crime by 14 per cent when that’s not true?
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng: "All I know is that certainly on the doorstep people are saying that there is progress being made"#Raworth https://t.co/Tu9NDIN7IO pic.twitter.com/2k8DNmcZIB
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) February 6, 2022
“He said that the government is cutting crime by 14 per cent. It isn’t true because he hadn’t included in that figure …fraud and computer misuse.
The UK Chair of the Statistics Authority says if fraud and computer misuse are counted in total crime, as they should be, total crime in fact increased …by 14 per cent.”
“People are talking about burglaries, about personal injury, physical crimes, and I think in that context we’re seeing lower crimes – I think the prime minister is right.”
People weren’t buying it.
1.
Kwasi Kwarteng appears to be discovering on live television that you can only defend a liar by lying.
— James Oh Brien (@mrjamesob) February 6, 2022
2.
Err what about sexual crime, because that's up. And also what he didn't say is that even with the cooked up figures the conviction and charging rates of all crimes are falling. So I tell you what is up …criminals getting away with whatever they want. https://t.co/ZD3yz0nbyC
— Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) February 6, 2022
3.
Kwasi Kwarteng is I’m sure an intelligent man, but by arguing that fraud is not “real crime” or “what people feel” replaces the actual data, he is downplaying the impact of crime on ordinary citizens whilst trying to defend his lying Prime Minister pic.twitter.com/GzsimkrJOZ
— nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) February 6, 2022
4.
>>The P.M said in parliament that crime had gone down by 14%. The Head of the UK Statistics Authority says it's gone up by 14%. Did the PM lie?
>>Oh no, when we say crime, we don't include all crime!
The PM is not the only Tory treating the public like fools
They know no shame https://t.co/ilT2j3KVv0— Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) February 6, 2022
5.
Kwasi Kwarteng reckons crime must have gone down because everyone feels it has. Unusual
— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) February 6, 2022
6.
BREAKING: Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed crime has fallen by 14% as long as you discount all the fraudulent loans that Rishi Sunak wrote off. Otherwise crime has risen by 14%.
— Laura Kuenssberg Translator (@BBCLauraKT) February 6, 2022
7.
Either you resign and keep your integrity, or you attempt the impossible task of defending Johnson, when you lose it, and you sound stupid and ridiculous too. https://t.co/IrlvK4XdGK
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) February 6, 2022
