Fear of crime has been a bugbear to successive governments

The proportion of crimes that end with an offender being brought to justice has gone down from 28% to 23%.

Mr Blunkett plans wholesale reforms of the criminal justice system with tougher community sentences and much harsher sentences for serious and violent offenders.

The government argues many areas of crime are falling, but Mr Blunkett acknowledged little impact is being made on people's fear of crime.

And he told BBC Two's Newsnight programme much work would have to be done to improve detection of crime to give a deterrent factor to criminals, acknowledging the statistics were not acceptable.

"They are actually truer than they were 10, 20 or even five years ago.

Life means life will literally mean that someone who murders, rapes children and is put away for life will stay there for life David Blunkett Home secretary

"There is a greater honesty about the way the statistics are compiled now. But it is a disgrace."

"[We had] 29,000 extra last year actually got through court, and offences were dealt with, so there is a slight blip back but it is not good enough, we all accept it is not good enough."

The home secretary admitted the prison population would continue to rise as crime initiatives were put in place, but insisted he was "committed to keeping people out of jail".

"In the short term there will be an increase, we are planning on that, we've got two new prisons. I want to start reversing that."

Prison numbers

Making sure many first-time offenders received tough community sentences and stayed out of prison would allow the balance in jails to be tipped towards more serious offenders, Mr Blunkett said.

"All of that will reduce the prison population at the lower end and to help us to be tougher, much tougher, with persistent and with violent and with horrendous crimes at the upper end.

"Life means life will literally mean that someone who murders, rapes children and is put away for life will stay there for life."

Despite his run-ins with the judiciary and the legal profession, Mr Blunkett did not shy away from further criticism.

"Magistrates and judges say 'we don't understand what you are asking of us'.

"We are asking for sensible tough community sentences for first time offenders we want to rehabilitate.

"We want to get really tough with those who are causing havoc in our society."

'Spurious grounds'

He said those who opposed the overhaul of the criminal justice system were suffering a lack of perspective.

"Those who oppose it, oppose it on the spurious grounds that somehow protecting the community from thuggery and anti-social behaviour is infringing people's rights.

"The rights that are being infringed are those who can't live peacefully and walk peacefully in the streets of our communities.

And he was dismissive of suggestions that a specialised ministry of justice should be formed.

"I didn't have to oppose it because it wasn't a serious proposition within Downing Street but I'm not in favour of a ministry captured by lawyers and those in the system."

He added that as well as victims and witnesses he was "on the side of the police who are on the side of the community".