Britain’s inner-city streets resemble the violent districts of Baltimore as portrayed in the US television drama The Wire, the Conservatives claim.

Chris Grayling, the Shadow Home Secretary, will say today that the rise in violent crime — up by 70 per cent since Labour came to power — including gun crime and fatal stabbings mean a US-style “culture of violence” has come to Britain.

The Wire, a drama written by the former police reporter, David Simon, depicts neighbourhoods where drug dealing is rife and there is a constant threat of robbery. Dominic West, who plays the detective Jimmy McNulty, went to Eton with David Cameron and is still close to the Tory leader.

Mr Grayling, who is in day-to-day charge of the Conservative Party this week, will say in a speech: “The Wire used to be just a work of fiction for British viewers. But under this Government, in many parts of British cities, The Wire has become a part of real life in this country too.” He pointed to figures showing that gun crime is up by more than half and fatal stabbings are the highest level on record.

The picture is likely to be contested by Labour. Home Office figures released last month showed a drop in violent crime, and the number of murders in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest for 20 years.

Mr Grayling uses the comparison with Baltimore to argue that the poorest suffer most when crime is out of control. This is part of a larger Tory argument that the less well-off have suffered disproportionately under Labour. Conservative research suggests a direct link between the most deprived areas and those with the highest crime rates. This highlights areas such as Speke in Liverpool, top of the national table for social deprivation, where violent crime and arson are up by more than 50 per cent in a year.

Mr Grayling will say: “There can be no starker indicator of a broken society. Where those who face the biggest challenges in their lives are also those most at risk from the threat of crime and violence. Creating a downward spiral in those communities in which both the deprivation and the crime simply repeat themselves. Because it is the social breakdown in our most deprived communities that creates the environment in which crime can flourish, in which disillusioned young people turn to gang culture, in which violence becomes the norm.”

He will say that 12 months of a Conservative government will not turn round the situation. The priority of the Tory government must be, however, ending the benefit culture.

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