PRIME MINISTER’S PLEDGE ON POLICE NUMBERS DOES NOT STACK UP, SAY TORIES

SIR Keir Starmer’s pledge to increase the numbers of police officers on the streets is not what it seems, according to Shadow Policing Minister Matt Vickers.

He told GB News: “We would always welcome having more police on the streets. The last government obviously brought forward 20,000 additional police officers. We promised 20,000 additional police officers and delivered 20,000 additional police officers.

“There are more police on the streets than ever before. But the thing with this pledge from Keir Starmer, like all the pledges we’ve heard from him in recent times, it doesn’t quite stack up.

“He’s telling us there’ll be 13,000 more police, actually it’s just not the case. All the numbers tell us it’s not the case. There’ll be a few more police officers but these numbers are made up of special constables, voluntary police officers, they’re made up of PCSOs.

“We’re seeing all the feedback from chief constables and police and crime commissioners to say the money isn’t there to do it, the government isn’t backing them with that money, which could mean that we’ll see police officers redeployed.

“So, wonderful to have neighbourhood police officers named in each ward, but actually that means taking away response police officers, the people who deal with all those 999 calls. You know when you call the police, and you call 999 because you’re in a really tough situation, you want to know the police are there to respond.

“The last government committed an uplift last year of £922 million. The government is back-peddling on this.

“They will not commit the money we need to put those police on the streets. And actually it undermines trust in politics, undermines our police force to keep telling us we’re getting more police officers when it’s not going to be the case.”

Speaking during Breakfast with Ben Leo and Isabel Webster, he added: “The government are wriggling on this wriggling left, right and centre, they’re hearing criticism even from Labour police and crime commissioners about what’s going on here.

“You can’t expect the police to deliver more, well, you can’t expect police leadership to deliver more police if you don’t give them the cash to do so.”