WARRINGTON South Labour Constituency Spokesperson Nick Bent has joined calls to press Chancellor George Osborne not to cut police budgets at a time of unprecedented security threats.
Mr Bent says that since the Tories came to power in 2010, Cheshire Police has seen savage cuts to its budget and Police officer numbers have fallen.
Now, with the Government’s Autumn Statement imminent this Wednesday afternoon, the Conservative Chancellor is threatening massive further cuts to Police funding. Even after the devastating terrorist attacks in Paris, George Osborne has refused to rule out cuts of over 10% which leading Chief Constables have described publicly as “dangerous”.
Great Sankey resident Mr Bent commented: “George Osborne is playing politics with policing and our national security at a dark and dangerous time – he should listen to senior police officers not Treasury bean counters.”
It was recently revealed that seven Police and Crime Commissioner, five of them Conservatives, had written to the Home Office threatening legal action against extreme further cuts. Two Police and Crime Commissioners in the North West, Cumbria and Lancashire, were among those threatening a judicial review.
But Cheshire’s PCC was not one of the signatories – in fact Cheshire’s Conservative PCC John Dwyer has secretly suggested in a leaked letter that Government Ministers should give him new powers to make “unlimited” increases to Council Tax to make up for police funding cuts from the Home Office. John Dwyer also wants the Conservative Government to scrap the rules that give the public a free vote in a referendum if council tax goes up more than 2%.
Mr Bent added: “In the past, John Dwyer has failed to stick up for Cheshire residents and police officers. Now, not only is he failing to stand up to Tory Ministers he is secretly lobbying for new powers to raise taxes without a public vote – that is undemocratic and hypocritical and we intend to vote Dwyer out in May 2016. Dwyer is just giving in to Government cuts.”
Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary who grew up in Culcheth in Warrington, commented: “People will be worried to hear George Osborne digging in on cuts to the Police. It’s not good enough when the safety of the country is at issue.
“One of the most senior police officers in the land has written to Osborne to say cuts over 5 per cent would be damaging and over 10 per cent would be dangerous. He has been told in no uncertain terms that he has to consider the national policing budget alongside the budget for counter-terrorism. Osborne must protect front-line policing.
“Even at this eleventh hour, the Chancellor must listen to that advice and scale back his proposed cuts to the Police. He can’t be allowed to dig in and damage national security with his dogmatic approach to deficit reduction. Osborne must put his political pride aside and put the safety of the country first.”
