Britain tops European crime league
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Britain has one of the worst crime rates in Europe, a report said yesterday.
It is the most burgled country in Europe, has the highest level of assaults and above average rates of car theft, robbery and pickpocketing. Only Ireland has a worse record.
Estonia, Holland and Denmark make up the rest of the EU's five ''high-crime" nations. All had rates more than 30 per cent higher than the average. Spain, Hungary, Portugal and Finland had the lowest rates.
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The report follows one of the most comprehensive law and order surveys in the EU. More than 40,000 people aged over 16 were questioned in 18 countries about their recent experiences of crime.
Factors associated with high levels of crime included urbanisation, a large number of young people in the population and a binge-drinking culture.
Risks of being assaulted were highest in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark and lowest in Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Spain and France.
Experiences with sexual violence were reported most often by women in Ireland, Sweden, Germany and Austria and least often in Hungary, Spain, France and Portugal
One area where Britain came out well was on ''ethical" crime. People were asked whether they had been required to pay bribes to public officials over the past twelve months. Positive answers were given most often in Greece, Poland, Hungary and Estonia and bribe-seeking was least common in Finland, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Ireland.
Rates of 'hate crimes' against minorities were most pronounced in France, Denmark, the UK and the Benelux countries, with the lowest levels in Italy, Portugal, Greece and Austria.
The European Crime and Safety Survey, published in Brussels yesterday, was a joint venture between the United Nations, the European Commission and the Gallup polling organisation.
It suggests that the British public are somewhat inured to high crime and not "over-concerned" about burglary and safety on the streets. We also tend to be happier with the police than people in many other countries.
The British are also much more in favour of prison as a punishment. More than twice as many people think a serial burglar should go to prison than in other countries.
Overall, nearly one third of EU citizens said they were afraid of burglary and did not feel safe on the streets.
The survey found that "common crimes" like burglary and car theft had fallen across the EU, including Britain but this was linked to higher levels of security reflected in increased sales of alarms and special door locks.
The Government said the survey was three years out of date. Tony McNulty, the Home Office Minister, said: "We have concerns about its quality and the comparisons. It does not take account of any recent crime reduction measures to tackle alcohol misuse, the acquisitive crime campaign and tough new measures in the Violent Crime Reduction Act to tackle gun and knife crime."
Robert Manchin, the chairman of Gallup Europe, said it involved "perceptions" of safety and security based on people's actual experience of crime. It did not correlate to recorded crime statistics which were collected differently around the EU.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat spokesman, said the study exposed Britain as the "sick man of Europe".
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "This shows that, by any measure, we are doing badly. Ten years of failure have left the public more at risk from property crime and violent crime than any other comparable country in Europe."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...6.xml#comments
Britain has one of the worst crime rates in Europe, a report said yesterday.
It is the most burgled country in Europe, has the highest level of assaults and above average rates of car theft, robbery and pickpocketing. Only Ireland has a worse record.
Estonia, Holland and Denmark make up the rest of the EU's five ''high-crime" nations. All had rates more than 30 per cent higher than the average. Spain, Hungary, Portugal and Finland had the lowest rates.
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The report follows one of the most comprehensive law and order surveys in the EU. More than 40,000 people aged over 16 were questioned in 18 countries about their recent experiences of crime.
Factors associated with high levels of crime included urbanisation, a large number of young people in the population and a binge-drinking culture.
Risks of being assaulted were highest in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark and lowest in Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Spain and France.
Experiences with sexual violence were reported most often by women in Ireland, Sweden, Germany and Austria and least often in Hungary, Spain, France and Portugal
One area where Britain came out well was on ''ethical" crime. People were asked whether they had been required to pay bribes to public officials over the past twelve months. Positive answers were given most often in Greece, Poland, Hungary and Estonia and bribe-seeking was least common in Finland, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Ireland.
Rates of 'hate crimes' against minorities were most pronounced in France, Denmark, the UK and the Benelux countries, with the lowest levels in Italy, Portugal, Greece and Austria.
The European Crime and Safety Survey, published in Brussels yesterday, was a joint venture between the United Nations, the European Commission and the Gallup polling organisation.
It suggests that the British public are somewhat inured to high crime and not "over-concerned" about burglary and safety on the streets. We also tend to be happier with the police than people in many other countries.
The British are also much more in favour of prison as a punishment. More than twice as many people think a serial burglar should go to prison than in other countries.
Overall, nearly one third of EU citizens said they were afraid of burglary and did not feel safe on the streets.
The survey found that "common crimes" like burglary and car theft had fallen across the EU, including Britain but this was linked to higher levels of security reflected in increased sales of alarms and special door locks.
The Government said the survey was three years out of date. Tony McNulty, the Home Office Minister, said: "We have concerns about its quality and the comparisons. It does not take account of any recent crime reduction measures to tackle alcohol misuse, the acquisitive crime campaign and tough new measures in the Violent Crime Reduction Act to tackle gun and knife crime."
Robert Manchin, the chairman of Gallup Europe, said it involved "perceptions" of safety and security based on people's actual experience of crime. It did not correlate to recorded crime statistics which were collected differently around the EU.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat spokesman, said the study exposed Britain as the "sick man of Europe".
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "This shows that, by any measure, we are doing badly. Ten years of failure have left the public more at risk from property crime and violent crime than any other comparable country in Europe."
Been a while since we won something!
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