LONDON - Violent crimes such as murder and knife attacks surged by 18% in England and Wales in the past year, the sharpest rise for a decade, according to official figures released on Thursday. Statistics from the 44 police forces showed there were more than 1.1 million violent crimes in the year to March 2017 with large increases also in robbery and sex crimes, while overall nearly five million offences were recorded, up by 10% from the year before. "The Tories simply aren't allowing the police to protect the public," Labour's home affairs spokeswoman Diane Abbott said. The official police numbers contradicted the findings of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) which was also released on Thursday. The CSEW report, which is based on interviews with the public, appeared to suggest that crime was down by a third since 2010 when the Conservative Party came to power.

Source: Bangkok Post July 20, 2017 13:30 UTC