Take all crimes seriously

SARA THORNTON, this country’s most senior policewoman, has said that we should no longer expect a police officer to visit after a burglary. This is a shamefully flippant comment.

In any burglary there is a loss of property that must be taken seriously. But there is also an emotional toll. Having a stranger break into your house is a terrifying ordeal that leaves many people deeply afraid of being alone at home.

The police have a vital role not only in recovering what has been lost but in reassuring anxious householders.

Moreover letting supposedly minor criminals such as vandals and burglars run rampant risks creating the conditions for worse crimes to take place.

BACK in 1948, the service sector accounted for 46 per cent of the economy. By 2014 it had risen to 79 per cent. Financial services specifically account for over 10 per cent of GDP – the highest share of any of the leading world economies.

So to say they are critical to our prosperity is an understatement. That means they have to be entirely trustworthy. The moment Britain loses its reputation for honesty in its business and City dealings is the moment when the entire edifice on which so much depends crumbles.

Which is why the figures cited by David Cameron yesterday are worrying – and why it’s so important that he is raising the issue of money laundering and dodgy dealing before things get even worse, and it’s too late.

Figures released this week show that in the first three months of the current tax year, the Treasury has already received £ 142 million from taxes on homes owned by overseas corporations – a far higher sum than had been expected. In the whole of last year it only took in £ 100million. Such revenues