A MINISTER’S ARRESTING GAFFE

IT WASN’T just Home Secretary Amber Rudd who hadn’t done her homework when she admitted last week she hadn’t read a leaked BBC report about cuts in police numbers.

One of her deputies, Victoria Atkins, a junior Home Office minister, was asked by LBC’s Nick Ferrari how many police officers there were in Britain. ‘It’s erm, you’re testing me, I’m so sorry Nick,’ she said. ‘I know in London it’s around 31,000 officers.’

Pressed again for the whole country, she replied: ‘I’m not going to hazard a guess. I’m just going up front to say I’m so sorry that number has slipped my mind. I do apologise.’