Press Release from the Office of the Mayor of Tower Hamlets
For immediate release – 25 November 2013
Police admit borough crime figures were ‘incorrect’
Mayor Lutfur Rahman demands public apology from John Biggs AM for making ‘misleading crime claims’
Following an admission by the Metropolitan Police that they had got their crime figures for Tower Hamlets ‘wrong’ for the past three years, it has since emerged that the mistake only emerged after research was conducted into the figures by the Mayor’s Office.
The apparent spike in crime in Tower Hamlets occurred after the Metropolitan Police admitted that they had got their figures the ‘wrong way around’. This error was immediately challenged by Mayor Lutfur Rahman, but only after John Biggs AM and the Labour Party had trumpeted the wrong figures, with great fanfare, to the local media. Particularly embarrassing for John Biggs was the revelation that crime has fallen further in Tower Hamlets than Hackney and Newham.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman said:
‘Had John Biggs and the Labour Party done some elementary research he would have soon discovered – as we did – that crime is falling in our borough, not rising. Instead of trying to score cheap political points and frightening local residents into the bargain, John Biggs could have tried to establish the truth. The Metropolitan Police have acknowledged that they made an honest mistake – but it is high time that John Biggs now apologises for trying to exploit the situation for his own political ends and getting it so spectacularly wrong.’
Ends
Notes to Editors:
1. East London Advertiser articles on Tower Hamlets crime figures here and here.
For information about this press release contact Numan Hussain , Political Advisor to the Mayor , on 07508 352 023 or email numan.hussain@towerhamlets.gov.uk
