Statistics on rocky ground...

There’s a reason why statistics can leave us all shook up.

They may have the appearance of undeniable facts but it is an unfortunate truth that they can be shaped to support almost any argument.

In 1977, there were 170 Elvis impersonators. By 2000 there were 85,000. Both so-called facts, but those figures have been extrapolated to suggest that, if they continued to rise at the same rate, by 2043, every person on the planet will be an Elvis impersonator!

I wouldn’t bet your house on it.

And so when Home Secretary Amber Rudd throws statistics our way suggesting the falling number of police on our streets has little to do with the rise in violent crime, we’d be foolish to take comfort from the figures.

They may be true for a particular moment in time, but her conclusion, no matter how well argued, is unlikely to appease an increasingly concerned public. It has certainly not impressed top cop Vera Baird, who tells us today that reducing the number of bobbies on the beat affects safety.

Rudd can spout figures til she’s blue in the face, but reducing officer numbers will never be seen as the answer to tackling crime.

Equally, we have to accept that increasing the number of bobbies on the beat alone is not enough to tackle the issue.

Social and economic issues come into play. Poverty, housing, healthcare, education and unemployment are as just as much to blame for rises in crime as a paucity of officers on our streets.

Rudd’s task force is welcomed, but a wider plan is required to tackle the issue.

A little less conversation, a little more action please.