Reeves and Clarke in 'recession' row
Ken Clarke sparked a fresh row today after declaring that 'a prolonged recession' will lead to a new crime wave. Shadow Chief Secretary Rachel Reeves seized on the Justice Secretary's remarks to MPs as proof that the Coalition was 'planning for a recession rather than preventing it'.
Ms Reeves said that Cabinet members “should be taking urgent action to get our economy growing again, not wringing their hands” about an inevitable recession.
Speaking at Justice questions in the House of Commons today, Mr Clarke had said: “It is possible, with the prolonged recession, with the long period of youth unemployment, there’ll be an increase in acquisitive crime, that is the experience we have in this country. What we’re doing is responding to that and the prison service is responding very well.”