Labour Party accused of suppressing true extent of surge in violence in Britain.

London, Oct 24 : The Labour party has been accused of hiding the true extent of the surge in violence in Britain.

According to the Sun, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith admitted some forces have not kept proper records for ten years, following revelations that police chiefs hid a massive surge in violence.

Tories and anti-crime campaigners said the system has created a "shambles", and blamed it on Labour's obsession with crime-fighting targets.

Since Labour came to power, cops have recorded assaults under a less serious category if no grievous harm was inflicted, quoted the newspaper.

Government figures thus suggest the streets to be safer than they actually are. The adjusted figures show attempted murders involving a knife rocketed by 28 per cent and GBH stabbings by 29 per cent.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said that the figures undermine the government's projection that violent crime was getting better.

Campaigners claimed the books were deliberately manipulated to meet Labour's tough targets. Statistics revealed Britain experienced a shocking 22 per cent rise in serious violent crime since last year. It would have shown up as just a five per cent rise if it had gone uncorrected.

The error was revealed after Home Office officials ordered 13 police forces to recount their crime figures for the three months to this June. Smith refused to say how many forces had under-reported violent crime.

Home Office officials refused to name the forces at the centre of the crime stats fiasco. Smith insisted she still had confidence in the crime figures and stressed that all offences were counted, albeit in the less-serious category.

ANI