The only difference is that you get to hear about it more today, bcos the less scrupulous papers know it sells.

If only it was the 'less scrupulous papers'. This was in the "The Observer" last weekend

Robberies recorded in 1997: 63,072
Robberies in 2004-05, after a peak in 2002: 88,710
Convictions and police cautions for robbery 1997: 10.2%
Convictions and cautions for robbery 2004-05: 8.9%

The message is clearly crime rate up, conviction rate down. But a little maths gives two figures they chose not to report

Convictions and police cautions for robbery 1997: 6433
Convictions and cautions for robbery 2004-05: 7853

Whoa! a 22% percent increase in the number of convictions! That must be highlighted in the article .... mustn't it?