Patel rejects ‘weakest government on crime’ label

During home affairs questions, the main frontbench exchange between home secretary Priti Patel and shadow secretary Yvette Cooper focused on tackling crime. 

Cooper told the House of Commons of new analysis that shows “crime 18% higher and prosecutions 18% lower”, before asking Patel how it feels to be “responsible for the weakest government performance on crime in a quarter of a century”.

Patel rejected this claim, telling the House that Cooper “doesn’t want to hear the facts” and highlighted the “outstanding Conservative  police and crime commissioners”.