Fooled on knife crime.

The Sun is in full voice over the dodgy knife crime statistics released by the government:

"HOME Secretary Jacqui Smith says sorry for pretending stabbings are down.

Falsifying evidence is embarrassing for a minister responsible for fighting crime.

But nobody believed Ms Smith — even BEFORE statistics chief Sir Michael Scholar blew the whistle."

Nobody? Really? Does the Sun really think that its readers are so stupid that they can't remember back to last Friday? From that day's leader:

"That horrific total is reason enough to welcome the small fall in knife crime that has followed a police crackdown in a few targeted areas.

This is largely due to increased stop-and-search police action — an anti-crime measure once condemned by politically-correct whingers as racially biased.

Those caught carrying knives are now three times more likely to end up where they belong: behind bars."

The Sun then believed the statistics - as long as they confirmed their own prejudices and gave them an opportunity to rail against the ever handy "politically-correct whingers".

Back to today's leader:

"The Home Office is scandalously incompetent, negligent and secretive."

Three adjectives which apply more than adequately also to the Sun.

Update: As Tim points out in the comments, Friday's page 3 girl also believed the knife statistics, making Rebekah Wade an even bigger boob than the ones she publishes.