Now Home Secretary warns credit crunch will send crime and violence soaring!

Crime, violence, illegal working and even terrorist numbers will surge because of the economic downturn.

This is the chilling verdict of a dynamite draft letter from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to Gordon Brown, leaked to the Daily Mail.

It predicts sharp rises in burglary and violence - but less funding to put police on the streets to meet the tide of lawlessness.

The 12-page document also warns that support for the far Right will increase as unemployment bites, meaning minority groups such as Muslims will be more likely to suffer racism, pushing them towards radicalisation and even terrorism.


The leak will infuriate the Prime Minister, who is hoping to launch his economic rescue plan this month.


The Government has been insisting it is well placed to weather the economic storm, and that the public should not panic.

But in an interview at the weekend, Chancellor Alistair Darling warned the current economic conditions are 'arguably the worst they've been in 60 years', and will get worse.

Now opponents say the mask has slipped even further with the revelations by Miss Smith's Home Office of what the terrible consequences will be for ordinary families.


It has even set up an 'economic conditions' unit to help ministers cope.

The letter says: 'We can expect additional pressures on acquisitive crime, police finances (and officer numbers), citizen attitudes to migration, and pressure on our fee income.'