Political cognitive dissonance

Reaction to the latest crime stats - showing a 7 per cent fall in both BCS and police recorded crime - is very revealing.

Chris Grayling:
"Any improvement is obviously welcome, but we still live in a more dangerous country than when Labour came to power. The government has presided over a surge in violence, while Labour's target culture means the police spend more time on paperwork than on the beat.

Knife crime remains a serious concern on our streets and Conservatives will make tackling it a priority. Too many families have their lives ruined by low-level crime and antisocial behaviour. This has got to change."

This despite falls in worry about crime and concern about disorder, as well as actual victimisation, in recent years. Obviously the election is an issue here, but it's almost as if politicians (and perhaps the rest of us) have simply lost the cognitive ability to grasp that crime can go down as well as up, and that things can better, sometimes.