MP calls for more police to aid fight against terrorism
ROCHDALE MP Tony Lloyd has called on the Home Secretary to increase police numbers to help fight terrorism.
In his first parliamentary appearance since winning the Rochdale seat last month, Mr Lloyd grilled Amber Rudd on cuts to the police budget which have seen the number of officers in Greater Manchester plummet in recent years.
Mr Lloyd, the former Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, also praised GMP and the Met for their response to the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London.
He said: “I join the Home Secretary in her congratulations to [GMP Chief Constable} Ian Hopkins and all our public services in both Manchester and London on what they did during the recent attacks.
“I set the budget for Greater Manchester Police for this current year and I was faced with cuts from central government.
“If she wants to bring us all together to fight terrorism, she needs to recognise that combating terrorism, like other things, places real strain on our police service.
“We need more police officers to combat not just terrorism, but the things that we need a modern police force to do.”
In response Ms Rudd said: “We have protected the police budget from 2015 to 2020.
We will be conducting the review to find out what else we could do better to combat terrorism.
“The security services are leading on the review, looking at what has happened in the past. We will have an open mind as to what is needed, depending on what that review reveals.”
Earlier this month Mr Hopkins said his officers are being placed under ‘real strain’ as he publicly highlighted cuts to his force.
He cited official figures which show that GMP currently carrying out one of its biggest ever investigations - had 8,148 officers in March 2010, but this had dropped by 23 per cent to 6,297 by March last year.
Although Mr Hopkins did not overtly criticise the cuts to his force - he did post on his Twitter account official statistics showing how police numbers had fallen over the years.
The number of officers was slashed by 23 per cent to 6,297 in the six years to March last year - far more than the national average.
The number of staff fell by 18 per cent to 3,461 and PCSOs by 11 per cent to 748.
The data also predicts changes up to 2020 as a result of planned budget cuts. Greater Manchester Police would lose a further 200 police staff and 248 PCSOs.