Figures back him but don't tell whole story

Rod Liddle's latest comments are certainly provocative, but they do have some support from official statistics.

Ministry of Justice figures for 2007/08 show that while 2.2 per cent of Britons aged 10 or above are black, 7.4 per cent of arrests are of black suspects. Of those whose cases are serious enough to be tried in a crown court, 14 per cent are black, and 6.5 per cent of cautions are given to black people.

Mixed race and Asian people are also over-represented in the statistics. White people, who are 91.3 per cent of the population, are under-represented at all levels, accounting for just under 80 per cent of arrests and 75.3 per cent of crown court cases.

Figures for London showed more than half of those in robberies were black, and black people were over-represented in gun and knife crime - as perpetrators and victims.

There are caveats. The figures are based on the 2001 census and the proportion of black people has risen. The black population also has more people in the prime offending age range from the teens to the late twenties and tends to suffer more deprivation and poor educational achievement, which are linked with higher crime rates.