Violent crime has broken the million-a-year mark for the first time, the Home Office will reveal this week.

The rise - more than 20 per cent in some police areas - underlines the urgency of Labour's clampdown on law and order launched yesterday.
As Premier Tony Blair and Home Secretary David Blunkett got tough, in the wake of the Daily Mirror's Reclaim Our Streets campaign, a senior Home Office source said the latest annual crime statistics would be "bad news".