Comment by zingar

Just to clarify: you're saying the alcohol vs crime stats are from a research unit of a university? If so:

- I admit that I don't know much about ONS but its name suggests that they are not about research/speculation/anecdata into how we got where we are or how to fix it, they are just there to collect data - I would count the reduction in alcohol consumption as an extremely positive step for fixing problems; societal problems like crime need holistic solutions. What the correct solution is seems orthogonal to my point which is that stats orgs work hard to produce rigorous data and it is dangerous to undermine them in favour of groups (bloggers?) who have no such standards applied to their work

> It is wrong to blame immigrants for crime but correct to blame people outside London

I'm not sure what point you're making, I'm not blaming crime on people outside London. I imagine that the small amount of crime in London is committed by people in and around London. I expect the tiny minority of immigrants to be responsible for a tiny minority of those crimes.

> there is a link between crime and immigration

I'd be interested to read stats from a reputable source that applies the sort of rigour that the non-political civil servants who typically gather stats.

> You are implying that public opinion should be manipulated to hide this fact

I am stating that the fact of low crime rates in London should not be undermined in favour of conspiracy theories that are used to demonise the civil service.

Even if there is a link between crime and immigration the low rate makes it far less of a problem than the other societal problems we face, like the quick political points scored by demonising and hollowing out the civil service.

> even though this is already something the government does

This government already bows to this immigration nonsense. They are not a good example in your case.