Review: The Geek Manifesto

This week I've been reading Mark Henderson's book The Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters, which discusses the role of science and its geeky proponents in public life. Henderson's principal thesis is that politicians and scientists have been wilfully ignorant of each other for too long, and that it is time for science, its methods, and its practitioners to take a more central place in politics and policy.  This includes statistics, of course, which is why it seemed relevant to the blog.

Non-existent recidivism statistics wrongly reported

This article from the BBC News website caught my eye today, headlined "Reoffending rates reach record level".  It also says that 

Ministry of Justice officials say the figures show a "clear trend" of a rising re-offending rate.

The Independent makes some similar claims.  The phrase "re-offending rate" is simple enough: it's the proportion of people who, having been convicted of a crime, go on to commit another one within a year, or within five years, or whatever.  Right?