Police crime figures are meaningless. Ban them | Simon Jenkins

Crime statistics could plummet, yet tell us nothing about whether the British are treating each other 'better or worse'

Awesome scenes in the Commons on Tuesday. MPs declared themselves dazed and horrified. Committee chairman Bernard Jenkin cried that he was "shocked". Liberal democrat Greg Mulholland was "amazed and appalled". Even the Home Office minister Damian Green was said to be furious, burbling that "thick red lines" had been crossed.

The cause of the mayhem was a couple of police offic...