THERE are two main concerns surrounding the Home Office's admission that not all the statistics recorded by police forces across England and Wales have been accurate.

This is especially so given that the figures at the heart of the blunder related to incidences of violent crime.

The first is that without revealing which forces are involved, the Home Office has done nothing to reassure the public that they can trust their local force's figures.

Although we must point out that Gwent Police says its was not one of those asked to re-examine its figures.

The second is that it will now be difficult for the public to believe the Home Office when it says overall crime is down. Part of the problem lies in the fact that the Government is saying it does not really know how long the undercounting has been going on.

It also means that violent crime which was previously shown to be decreasing every quarter has now been shown to have increased by 22 per cent.

And this has given fuel to those who say the government has been changing the rules to try to mask the true picture.

All in all the real victim is public trust.