Offences involving firearms were up, by 11% to 6,604 recorded crimes.

Knife and gun crimes tend to be disproportionately concentrated in London and other metropolitan areas, the Office for National Statistics said, but it added that the majority of police force areas saw rises in these types of violent crime.

The figures showed the number of homicides went up by 54, or 9%, to a total of 653, when cases linked to the Hillsborough disaster and last year’s terror attacks were excluded.

In the overall category of ‘violence against the person’, there were 1.3 million crimes logged, a rise of a fifth on the number in 2016.

Recorded burglary and robbery offences went up by 9% and 33% respectively, while the separate Crime Survey for England and Wales showed a 17% jump in vehicle thefts.

In total, police recorded 5.4 million offences, a 13% year-on-year rise.

While the outlook might seem bleak, it’s important to keep in mind, as leftist UK journalist George Eaton would say, we can all be proud of the “magnificent diversity” of those being victimized in our progressive society.

No one said progress would be easy, folks!