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Crime rises on street where Jacqui Smith's home has armed guard
Danny Brierley10.02.09
Crime has gone up in the London street where Home Secretary Jacqui Smith lives despite the presence of police armed with machineguns whenever she is there.
The home in Peckham which she shares with her sister is at the centre of a row over expenses she has claimed.
Figures for the street and four adjoining streets show the number of notifiable offences, which includes robberies, burglaries and assaults, have jumped by more than 60 per cent year on year.
In December 2007 there were eight while for the same period last year there were 13, according to the Met's crime mapping website.
The total last year included a robbery and a burglary. The nature of the eleven other crimes are not disclosed by police.
The "crime rate", an index which attempts to measure the level of crime against other areas, is double that of the borough of Southwark as a whole.
Armed police were stationed outside the house last night while Ms Smith and her sister were inside. A security system that includes a video entry-phone has been installed at the property.
Neighbours said Ms Smith had been there since at least April last year and it is thought she had also lodged with her sister, a BBC reporter, at her previous home in a nearby road.
One woman said on a community website that there were advantages and disadvantages to having such a heavily-protected person in the same road.
"We will always know where to find a policeman, and it would be possible to tailgate her car into town, thus cutting 15 minutes from the journey
"The disadvantages are that the police will always know where to find you."
Another wrote: "So just her, four armed officers, and stab vests all round when she pops out to buy milk then?" There was concern today after the far-right BNP sent members Ms Smith's full home address and urged them to write to her at it.
The Home Secretary is facing the possibility of a formal inquiry after declaring her sister's £450,000 house as her main residence, allowing her to claim £116,000 over six years.
Ms Smith today said second home expenses claimed on her family house in the Midlands were "above board".
Ms Smith said she had checked with the Parliamentary authorities about claiming expenses on her family home while lodging with her sister and "received assurances" it was within the rules.
"I have abided by the rules," she said. "Everything I have done is above board."
Speaking during a visit to domestic violence charity Refuge in central London, Ms Smith said: "The thing with being MPs is we have to live in more than one place.
"I have always been very clear with the authorities about the arrangements that I made. I specifically asked whether or not the home where my children live had to be my main home. I received assurances it didn't have to be.
"Because we live in two places, that's why we make the arrangements that we do."
The office of Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon said last night that a complaint had been received about Ms Smith's second home expenses, but that did not mean it would be investigated.
Reader views (9)
I see in the photo that Jacqui is also letting,its a great life on that other planet,some of us never get to visit.
- David,Chertsey, Chertsey.UK.
So Ms Smith has "followed the rules"? Did she, like all her colleagues who do the same, not follow the "Moral Compass" that Mr Brown claimed would apply? Or has this old-fashioned navigational tool been put away again?
Just because the rules (written by beneficiaries) allow it, it doesn't mean it's right Ms Smith!
- Dave, London
Now is this the street where she lives, or the street where she has her main residence? We should be told!
- Paul, London
Charlie of Soho, you are just a minority now !
- Joe, Swanley Kent
Off course crime will go up in Jacqui's street. They know full well they will never be caught with her in charge of crime reduction. My old boss said that if you think my managers are clueless and have no imagination or talent just look at their expenses sheets. Who whom could he be refering?
- Albert Hall, hove england
I'm no fan of Jacqui Smith but actually, crime IS down in the parts of London where I live and work. And isn't it standard procedure to have armed guards for both the home secretary and the minister for Northern Ireland?
- Charlie, Soho, London
Crime has risen on every street since she became Home Sectary, but she still bleats that 'things have never been better'. Does anyone believe her?
- Roger, Surrey
Perhaps the Metropolitan Police, like Nulabour, isn't working?
- Steve.W, B'ham UK
"I have abided by the rules," she said.
Ah, 'the rules' rule again, time for a change ?
- Frank H., London.
