Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson MP, Labour's Home Secretary visited members of the local community on the Dee Park Estate today to talk to residents about the issues they face on crime and anti-social behaviour in the area.
The overall crime rate in Reading was down 4% in 2008-9 and Alan Johnson joined local Labour candidates Naz Sarkar and Anneliese Dodds in their demand to the Conservatives to stop misleading Reading people on crime rates.
Alan Johnson met Chairs of Residents Associations and Neighbourhood Watch coordinators as well as other local residents to learn about work the localpolice had done in reducing crime on the estate and across town.
He said: "In order to justify talking Britain down, the Conservative Party have recently quoted dodgy statistics about crime. Not only have the UK Statistics Authority said they have continually mislead the public, but locally Police Superintendent Steve Kirk has also said this week that the stats Reading Tories have used are misleading.
"They must stop doing this immediately and explain that since 1997 crimehas gone down by 36% and violent crime by 41% across Britain."
Naz Sarkar, Labour's parliamentary candidate for Reading West, said: "It was fantastic to welcome Alan Johnson to the Dee Park estate today, and let him see what a thriving community we have here. Local people have been working with the police through the Neighbourhood Action Group to reduce crime.
"Its disappointing that the Reading Tories insist on talking this town down when we have such a great community spirit here."
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