I never thought that I would say this, but I was impressed when I stumbled across Teresa May's speech to the Police federation today, on live radio, and I was struck by the way in which she reminded the assembled Federation members of their track record of alarmist claims that they trot out every time that they have a Home Secretary on their platform.
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Because the police are a disciplined force with a strong rank structure, some of them find it impossible to resist the temptation to yah-boo very senior people from the comfort of anonymity at their conference. Well, as Ms. May said, it does them no credit.
As a part of the public service that is unprotected from present and future cuts, the police share with the courts and the prisons the prospect of things getting tighter still. We shall have to make the best of it, but constructively, so that when we point out areas where cuts have gone too far and have damaged justice, we can be taken seriously.
I too saw Theresa May's speech on TV and was impressed by the detailed research she and her team had undertaken to support her case about the scaremongering the Police Federation had indulged in over many years. Very simply crime has been reducing so we don't need as many police, courts or even magistrates as we once did. We still have too many courts and buildings and we must make better use of the estate in the future.
ReplyDeleteMost people never come into contact with the justice system unless it involves a traffic matter and even then things are mostly dealt with by post.
More cuts to come and I for one think we must deal with the deficit here and now.
Funny that she accuses the Fed of crying wolf. Might be worth her recalling what happened to the boy who cried wolf in the end...
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that both sides of the divide have been responsible for crying wolf too often.the people crave the truth, not hype, not spin. If the public were spoken to as intelligent individuals then the reponse the politicians and the police get might be a lot warmer.
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