The new Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham has called on the Labour Party to ‘fight for our police as we have for our NHS’.
“The future of policing – and the safety of communities – is on the line,” Burnham told the Labour Party conference. The runner-up in the Labour leadership contest to Jeremy Corbyn said that he and Shadow Home team member Jack Dromey and I with Labour police and crime commissioners (PCCs) will mount a national campaign ‘against the Tory police cuts’.
Burnham said: “Of course, savings can be found. The police say 5 per cent to 10 per cent over the Parliament is just about do-able.” He claimed that ‘every burglar in the land’ will cheer Chancellor George Osborne.
Burnham said: “Police cars are already doubling as ambulances; police cells as mental health beds. But Osborne plans to hack that safety net away. He wants to cut the police by at least 25 per cent and even more in Labour areas.
“Imagine what that will mean. Neighbourhood policing and PCSOs a thing of the past. Crimes uninvestigated, calls unanswered, victims abandoned. All the progress on domestic violence under threat.
“In places, the thin blue line will be rubbed out completely. [Home Secretary] Theresa May talks of asking volunteers to fill the gaps. Well I’m sorry, Home Secretary, but you’re not on. Your part-time police force will put people at risk.”
