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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Smith admits London street fear | Smith admits London street fear |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has admitted she would not feel safe walking around London after dark. | Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has admitted she would not feel safe walking around London after dark. |
| Ms Smith told the Sunday Times that she would not be comfortable alone at night in deprived parts of the capital, as well as more affluent areas. | Ms Smith told the Sunday Times that she would not be comfortable alone at night in deprived parts of the capital, as well as more affluent areas. |
| Asked if she would feel safe walking alone in the Hackney neighbourhood, Ms Smith replied: "Well, no, but I don't think I'd have ever have done." | Asked if she would feel safe walking alone in the Hackney neighbourhood, Ms Smith replied: "Well, no, but I don't think I'd have ever have done." |
| Labour says crime is down compared to the Tories' time in power in the 1990s. | Labour says crime is down compared to the Tories' time in power in the 1990s. |
| 'Fortunate' | 'Fortunate' |
| In the interview with the Sunday Times, Ms Smith was asked why she would not feel safe on Hackney's streets at night. | In the interview with the Sunday Times, Ms Smith was asked why she would not feel safe on Hackney's streets at night. |
| She replied: "Well, I just don't think that's a thing that people do, is it, really?" | She replied: "Well, I just don't think that's a thing that people do, is it, really?" |
| I don't get the opportunity to get out on my own now but I certainly have done in the recent past Jacqui SmithHome Secretary | I don't get the opportunity to get out on my own now but I certainly have done in the recent past Jacqui SmithHome Secretary |
| She was also questioned about how she would feel if she was walking through the more affluent area of Kensington and Chelsea after dark. | She was also questioned about how she would feel if she was walking through the more affluent area of Kensington and Chelsea after dark. |
| "Well, I wouldn't walk around at midnight and I'm fortunate that I don't have to do that," she said. | "Well, I wouldn't walk around at midnight and I'm fortunate that I don't have to do that," she said. |
| Ms Smith told the newspaper she used to walk around Redditch, her constituency in Worcestershire, but added that she no longer got the chance because she was protected by police bodyguards. | Ms Smith told the newspaper she used to walk around Redditch, her constituency in Worcestershire, but added that she no longer got the chance because she was protected by police bodyguards. |
| "I don't get the opportunity to get out on my own now but I certainly have done in the recent past," she said. | "I don't get the opportunity to get out on my own now but I certainly have done in the recent past," she said. |
| 'Kebab purchase' | 'Kebab purchase' |
| Following the interview, the newspaper claimed it was contacted by one of the home secretary's aides who said that Ms Smith's remarks had not come out as she had intended. | Following the interview, the newspaper claimed it was contacted by one of the home secretary's aides who said that Ms Smith's remarks had not come out as she had intended. |
| The aide added that Ms Smith had recently "bought a kebab in Peckham" - an area of south London considered one of the most deprived. | The aide added that Ms Smith had recently "bought a kebab in Peckham" - an area of south London considered one of the most deprived. |
| Challenged about the comments on BBC One's the Andrew Marr show, the home secretary said: "You don't walk in areas you don't know, in any circumstances." | |
| But she said people were "much less likely to be a victim of crime" since Labour came to power. | But she said people were "much less likely to be a victim of crime" since Labour came to power. |
| But Sarah Teather, Lib Dem MP for Brent East, in north west London, said Ms Smith's comments showed she was "out of touch". | |
| 'No idea' | |
| She told BBC London: "To think that people don't walk around late at night, and to think that everybody goes around in a cocooned ministerial car with a couple of policemen watching, is absolutely astonishing." | |
| "I think she is out of touch. I think she has no idea. It's an astonishing admission of the government's failure. | |
| "Instead of putting large amounts of money into an ID scheme which is not going to tackle crime, I think they should be putting that money into getting more police on the streets." | |
| Figures released by the Metropolitan Police in October last year showed overall crime in London had dropped 6.1% between April and September 2007, but that gun crime had risen by nearly 10%. | Figures released by the Metropolitan Police in October last year showed overall crime in London had dropped 6.1% between April and September 2007, but that gun crime had risen by nearly 10%. |
| Ms Smith told the newspaper the government had a "big job" to persuade people that towns and cities had not become more dangerous. | Ms Smith told the newspaper the government had a "big job" to persuade people that towns and cities had not become more dangerous. |
| "I understand that whilst it's a fact that crime is falling, what you want to know is what's happening on your street; what the police officers in your area are doing and who they are," she said. | "I understand that whilst it's a fact that crime is falling, what you want to know is what's happening on your street; what the police officers in your area are doing and who they are," she said. |
| "That's one thing we'll provide to people. Serious violence is something we need to address." | "That's one thing we'll provide to people. Serious violence is something we need to address." |