Rachel Reeves has been warned that failing to properly fund the police will be “an abdication of responsibility and a betrayal of the public”. Senior police chiefs and government watchdogs have written to the Prime Minister, warning that they will be forced to make difficult choices if the Chancellor announces spending cuts next Wednesday.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and other senior chiefs warned that cuts to police budgets will have “far-reaching consequences”. Shadow policing minister Matt Vickers told the Daily Express: “The first duty of any government is to protect its citizens. Nothing matters more than public safety. But that duty is under threat.
“Next week, the Chancellor will set out her spending review. And despite promises to tackle knife crime, shoplifting, violence against women and girls, and antisocial behaviour, there is growing speculation that police funding could be on the chopping block.
“This would be a grave mistake.
“This Government’s pledges will fall flat unless the Chancellor listens to police chiefs. Anything less would be an abdication of responsibility and a betrayal of the public.”
The letter from police chiefs said negotiations between the Treasury and the Home Office were going “poorly”.
But the Chancellor slapped down claims police officers will be forced to choose what crimes to investigate, telling reporters: “We will be increasing spending on police in the spending review next week, so that’s not a decision … or a choice that I would recognise.”
Meanwhile, in a separate letter, Dame Nicole Jacobs, domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, and Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, wrote to Sir Keir to say victim support services are being “pushed to the brink”, rocked by funding cuts and rising costs.
It read: “A settlement that fails to address our inflation and pay pressures would entail stark choices about which crimes we no longer prioritise.”
Last week, senior police officers – including Sir Mark – wrote a letter in The Times calling for “serious investment” in the spending review, which will set out the Government’s day-to-day departmental budgets for the next three years.
“A lack of investment will bake in the structural inefficiencies for another three years and will lose a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the service,” the letter warned.
Dame Nicole and Baroness Newlove welcomed Sir Keir’s “personal commitment to halving violence against women and girls within a decade” in their letter, but said they are concerned “funding cuts and scaled-back ambition are leading to piecemeal policies”.
They called for a “clear, well-funded national approach to prevent and respond to abuse, violence, and exploitation of women and girls”.
They added: “With bold and ambitious investment, we can finally tackle the systemic stain of violence and abuse, one that would see us get to grips with misogyny, ensure victims can recover from trauma, and build a criminal justice system that delivers for survivors every single time.”
On Wednesday, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander denied that some of her Cabinet colleagues are engaged in a row over funding for the police.
“I’m not privy to any of those conversations,” she said, adding there is a “really collegiate atmosphere around the Cabinet table on the part of every single Cabinet member”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are backing the police to protect our communities and keep our streets safe with up to £17.6billion this year, an increase of up to £1.2billion.
“This includes £200million to kick-start putting 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers, PCSOs and special constables that the public will see back on their streets and patrolling communities, as part of our Plan for Change.”