Scottish Sexual Crimes Rising
SNP cuts to policing has hurt not helped keep Scots safer. Recorded Crime in Scotland: September 2021 is published. It is not pretty reading.
John Swinney was compelled to fill in for the first minister at last week’s First Ministers Questions (FMQs). Since fielding questions by elected representatives constitutes a basic tenet of accountable governance in a parliamentary democracy, surely Nicola Sturgeon had a good reason for being absent?
Well, the answer to that rather depends on your point of view.
Our first minister is facing sliding personal favourability - having witnessed her +26 net favourability (Jan 14th) collapse to just +12 (October 28th) according to SavantaComRes Scottish polling monthly trackers. So perhaps Team Sturgeon genuinely believes prioritising a first ministerial image revamp represents a good reason to be absent from basic duties in Holyrood for a fortnight?
Nicola Sturgeon - fresh off the heels of her Vogue interview - was busy prioritising shaking hands with the global elites at COP26 in Glasgow. As the public relations operation unfolded however, the first minister ended up being branded Elsie McSelfie. I guess not all PR is necessarily good PR? But then, many politicians fail to actually see themselves properly. They do not always see themselves as the public see them, and this is especially true of a first minister increasingly obsessed with image, egged on by a small inner cadre of nodding yes-men.
Over 70 photo-ops at the fringes of COP26 in a fortnight, far from enhancing the fading stars profile, seems to have further diminished it. It is never good news in politics when your opponents begin abandoning contempt in favour of ridicule. If you’re being laughed at, you aren’t regarded as serious or credible.
Perhaps Elsie McSelfie would do better to turn her attention instead to the day job?
The in-tray includes tackling the latest Recorded Crime statistics for Scotland. According to the latest figures published by ScotGov the SNP have presided over a 16% rise in sexual crimes.
Sexual crimes were 16% higher compared to September 2020. This is an increase from 1,185 to 1,379 crimes in a year. And as if that isn’t bad enough, the rise is even sharper if we compare back to 2019. Sexual crimes are 21% higher compared to September 2019 - that’s an increase from 1,143 to 1,379 crimes.
Scotland is in the grip of troubling sexual crimes. Sexual assault and rape are also up on 2019
“Sexual assault increased by 20% compared to both September 2019 and 2020 (from 412 in September 2019 and 411 in September 2020, to 494 in September 2021). Rape and attempted rape decreased by 1% compared to September 2020 (from 232 to 229 crimes), but increased by 2% compared to September 2019 (from 224 to 229 crimes).”
Sexual crimes have increased year on year 2019-2021, and serious offenses such as rape and attempted rape are also up. And the SNP government cannot blame Westminster for this mess. After all they were warned repeatedly over the years that their budget cuts to policing would harm not help the fight against crime. Back in 2019 the then Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf was warned that the SNP’s £41m funding shortfall for Police budgets would have consequences.
Even earlier, in 2018 the SNP were being warned their budget cuts to policing would have consequences. In 2018 senior Police Scotland officials were hitting the red-alert button, describing SNP austerity as “unsustainable”.
But as is standard practice for the SNP government in Holyrood, warnings were dismissed and advice to change tac resolutely ignored. Cuts were imposed on Scottish policing, the service increasingly demoralised. In the face of those “unsustainable” SNP cuts, is it surprising that crime subsequently rose?
It is usually at this point the SNP would argue that other forms of crime fell…
And they would be correct. For example motor vehicle crime fell 2019-2021. But I'd contend that has less to do with smart governmental choices or effective policy, and far more to a health pandemic and everyone isolating, furloughing or moving to working from home. Fact is, due to Covid, fewer of us have been needing to press through the stressful morning and evening commutes to and from work. The pubs have been shut, restaurants closed. Thus crimes such as vehicle crime fell.
But crime such as sexual crimes only go down with properly funded policing, a service enjoying good morale - not suffering under SNP austerity. In fact, the pandemic lockdowns could conceivably have helped to also further worsen crimes such as attempted rape. After all, husbands can still rape their wives - even if they are married; and lockdown has trapped many vulnerable women in houses with their violent husbands for extended periods.
If only we had a first minister who prioritised sorting out the 21% increase in sexual crimes. If only Elsie would spend less time chasing after US senators with an iphone in one hand and a can of Irn Bru in the other.
Maybe someone could inform Humza Yousaf that COP26 wasn’t a juiced-up trades fair; some opportunity for personal and political PR. Rather it was a serious moment to try and head off a climate emergency. But that isn’t how Nicola Sturgeon saw things, nor Humza Yousaf it seems.
Perhaps Scotland wouldn’t be facing rising sex crimes in 2021 - on the back of SNP policing cuts - had Elsie spent more time focusing on governing well. We need fewer selfie’s and an end to SNP policing cuts - need to achieve falling sexual crime rates. Those are a few of the things I’d like for Christmas this year, but sadly I won’t be getting them. None of us will.
Sources