Police recorded crimes for England and Wales surged to over five million over the last year, according to a new Office for National Statistics (ONS) bulletin. Britain’s official statistical institute reports a 13 per cent increase in crime in the year ending in June 2015, with the total number of offences surpassing five million for the first time a decade. Violent crime appears to have increased even more sharply, with some of the headline figures including: 1,229,260 offences of violence against the person, an increase of 19 per cent on the previous year 129,700 sexual offences, an increase of 19 per cent on the previous year 45,100 rapes, an increase of 22 per cent on the previous year 36,998 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument, an increase of 26 per cent on the previous year 6,696 offences involving firearms, an increase of 27 per cent on the previous year — despite draconian controls on legal gun-ownership Non-violent crime also appears to be on the increase, with burglary up 6 per cent, theft from the person up 11 per cent, shoplifting up 11 per cent, and vehicle-related crime up 17 per cent. Clear-up rates are also extremely poor in some areas, with
