I have written to the Tory candidate in Derby North to urge him to commit to a clean General Election campaign after BBC revelations that Conservative Central Office had used bogus statistics about crime.
Conservative leader David Cameron had claimed violent crime was rising across the UK but the party was forced to backtrack after a BBC journalist revealed that the figures being compared were not like-for-like.
Figures I have obtained from the Derbyshire Constabulary show that crime rates in Derby have seen a dramatic reduction since 2002. Violent crime and criminal damage in Derby have been cut by around 25 per cent, while domestic burglaries and vehicle crime have been halved.
I am asking Stephen Mold for a guarantee that he will not use the bogus statistics because the Tory shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, has refused to give any such assurance.
Everyone now accepts, including Conservative Central Office, that the figures Mr Cameron published are flawed.
I've met Stephen Mold on a number of occasions and he has always assured me that his campaign will be a clean one. What we need now is an assurance that he won't be using these statistics to paint a worrying and untrue picture of Derby.
It's hugely disappointing that neither Mr Cameron nor Mr Grayling have given that assurance, but that's what we now need from Mr Mold.
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