Pay freeze for police ‘would be a betrayal’

ORGANISATION REPRESENTING OFFICERS CALLS FOR A RETHINK

FREEZING the pay of public sector workers would be a betrayal of their work in combating Covid-19, according to the body that represents rank-andfile police officers.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reported to be considering announcing a pay freeze for public sector workers except nurses and doctors in the forthcoming Spending Review.

Jon Carter-Lang, secretary of Leicestershire Police Federation, said: “It is a betrayal not to recognise the sacrifices the police service has made during the pandemic.

“While not including the NHS in the pay freeze quite rightly recognises their work during the pandemic, it is an insult to disregard the police in this respect.

“The police remain the service of last resort and have been pivotal in the public health response to the pandemic.

“The tireless work of my members since March has resulted in them working enforced extended shifts with additional overtime on top, having to put themselves and their families at increased risk with no choice but to interact with those infected by the virus.

“Frontline police officers cannot work from home in order to protect themselves.

“The nature of their work places them at the same if not greater risk to their health than our frontline colleagues in the NHS, with the public using the threat of Covid infection as a weapon.

“This sacrifice seems to have been forgotten by the Chancellor who seeks to lump operational police officers into the same category as other public sector workers.

“This freeze will only compound the 18 per cent real terms pay cut my members have endured since 2011.”

John Apter, Police Federation of England and Wales chairman, said: “During the pandemic, the government has thanked and celebrated members of the public sector.

“To freeze their pay and penalise these same workers would be morally bankrupt, unforgivable and a betrayal.”

“Yes we’re in tough times, but this would be extremely damaging for those very key workers the government has applauded over the past months.

“The government must stop and think before doing this.”

This year, police officers received a 2.5 per cent pay rise. ‘INSULT TO DISREGARD THE POLICE’: Jon Carter-Lang, secretary of Leicestershire Police Federation