Fierce_LiNk Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 (edited) I feel dirty posting this as the source is the Daily Mail.. Do bear in mind that the article is from 2009, so it's not the most up to date. - The UK has the second highest overall crime rate in the EU. - It has a higher homicide rate than most of our western European neighbours, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain. - The UK has the fifth highest robbery rate in the EU. - It has the fourth highest burglary rate and the highest absolute number of burglaries in the EU, with double the number of offences than recorded in Germany and France. The article does seem somewhat unfair, as it's adding England, Scotland, Wales and presumably Ireland into those statistics and comparing them to countries such as the Netherlands. But, nevertheless, it's interesting. Edited April 14, 2013 by Fierce_LiNk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 "Source: Conservatives"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted April 14, 2013 Author Share Posted April 14, 2013 "Source: Conservatives"? Pretty much. It's a thinly veiled attack on the previous government. "oh noes, how could those Labour ruffians let the country get so bad, tsk tsk." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serebii Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 States about it being in the EU...includes South Africa Hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Pretty much. It's a thinly veiled attack on the previous government. The figures match the same declining pattern as previous years. One important fact is that each countries class "violent crime" differently. The UK has one of the broadest meanings of the term (for example, it includes robbery). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 This is all very spurious - what's the definition of "violent crime" and how has this data been collated? They've listed 3 different sources but haven't explained how they've combined it. I'm not wrapping my head around Austria having a greater rate of violent crime then South Africa. In their own article the Police Minister points out it's impossible to compare rates from different countries because of they way they're collected, and that the biggest peak was in 1995 (ie, near the end of the last Conservative government), but then article immediately describes it as "a blow for Mr Johnson, who will today seek to reassert Labour's law and order credentials." It looks like they've written up the article enough to avoid the most obvious bias but pulled a nice big (misleading) graph out of their asses to distract readers. I'll bet you my trousers the graph takes up most of the print version of this story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted April 14, 2013 Author Share Posted April 14, 2013 I've taken this off another forum, and just noticed that this article was made in 2009. So, it's old, but I doubt the statistics would have changed dramatically in 3 years. This is quite interesting, UK Crime Stats and Crime Stats for England and Wales. It seems to show a trend in that second link that the number of reported crimes are falling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londragon Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Ever since I started listening to a podcast from BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service entitled 'More or Less' presented by Tim Harford I ignore all these so called 'statistics'. This particular one was debunked for precisely the reasons that @Cube stated; that crime is labelled and recorded completely differently in different countries, and therefore is impossible to cross reference and compare each other. Enlighten yourself, open your mind and understand statistics, where they come from and how they are manipulated by all of the government parties, private companies, NGO's, etc., download this weekly and listen; http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moreorless The last episode has a fascinating insight into the fourth anniversary of the earthquake which devastated the city of L’Aquila in Italy and which led to the conviction of six scientists and an official who failed to predict the disaster. Good listening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yvonne Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Easiest one to tally is murder, and we're pretty good on that all things considered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 It's okay guys, the more crime we have to deal with the more likely we'll start getting vigilante superheroes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 It's okay guys, the more crime we have to deal with the more likely we'll start getting vigilante superheroes. Well, Batman, Superman and Spider-man are now played by British actors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The fish Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Well, Batman, Superman and Spider-man are now played by British actors. Who plays Batman? Isn't it Joseph Gordon-Levitt now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Until we see someone else in the suit, I'd still class it as Bale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts