Meeting of the Parliament 02 April 2014
I will begin by stating what is perhaps the obvious, which is that I am completely against the idea of fiddled or made-up figures from any public body. I am sure that, across the chamber, we all share that view. I am sure that Sir Stephen House shares it, too. However, let us not distort the facts and lose sight of the purpose of stop and search powers, and let us not overlook the merit of intelligence-led, respectful person searches, which give law-abiding people the freedom to walk down the street free from the fear of violent crime. That is real freedom.