Hull MP takes up fight against Coalition police cuts

Hull North MP and Labour Shadow Police Minister Diana Johnson today launched a petition against cuts in the number of police officers.

Coalition Government plans to cuts the policing budget by 20% in real terms over four years, announced in the Chancellor's Spending Review, are estimated by the Police Federation to mean a reduction in police numbers of up to 20,000.

This could mean an average cut of 465 police officers in each of the 43 police forces of England and Wales.

The cuts are also expected to have a major negative impact on police community support officers (PCSOs) and even counter terrorism work is being cut by 10% in real terms.

News of the police cuts came in a week when the latest official crime figures showed an 8% fall in recorded crime nationally and 13% in Humberside.

Shoppers in Hull North's Newland Avenue were the first to sign up to the policing petition.

Diana Johnson MP said: "Public safety is the first duty of any government and policing should be one of the highest spending priorities.

"The most recent official crime figures showed that Labour's three-pronged approach of increasing police numbers to record levels after 1997, giving them more powers and sending more criminals to prison was working.

"Alongside the action Labour took to help people through tough times over the past two years, Labour's approach on policing continued working through the global recession.

"Now the Coalition is putting these policies into reverse fewer police with fewer powers to deter and detect crime, and softer sentencing that will leave more criminals on the streets. This is not a blueprint for protecting the public from crime.

"Cuts this deep will mean fewer police, irrespective of the Home Secretary's rhetoric about efficiency and her plan to put more of the bill for policing onto hard-pressed council tax-payers.

"At a time when the wider social and economic impact of Coalition policies will put extra pressure on our police, I believe that we need to keep every police officer we can.

"That's why Labour will make a priority of resisting police cuts that will prove a false economy for so many people. The response to the petition has been encouraging."

Hull North people wanting to support the petition against police cuts should contact Diana Johnson MP at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA or e-mail johnsond@parliament.uk.

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