‘Lost control of fight against crime’

THE first duty of any Government is to protect our communities and keep people safe. But this government has lost control of the fight against crime.

Robberies, sex offences and violent attacks have all increased here in Greater Manchester, with serious knife crime now at its highest level in seven years with government statistics revealing there were almost 2,000 incidents of serious knife crime recorded in the period up to March 2018 – an increase of almost a fifth.

Now none of us should be under any illusion as to the root cause of this trend; namely a Tory government (aided and abetted by their LibDem chums in Coalition for five years) who are obsessed with ideological cuts and a smaller state.

Police budgets have been slashed by £2.7 billion across the country since 2010 and the impact of these cuts on our communities has been devastating.

We’ve now got 1,799 fewer frontline police officers in Greater Manchester compared to 2010 – that’s a drop of 22 per cent in just eight years!

It’s worth remembering that Mrs May was the person signing off on these cuts whilst Home Secretary, a position she held from 2010-16. Now, as Prime Minister she leads a Government which has already broken promises to protect funding.

But it’s not just cuts; the legacy of the recruitment freeze started under Mrs May, as well as the practice of encouraging force-wide voluntary resignations (which rose 11% in just one year in 2016) have all contributed to the crisis.

Only in April were we warned by GMP’s Chief Constable that the police have had to prioritise investigating certain crimes over others as they simply did not have the capacity to spare.

Our police are at breaking point and these shocking figures reveal the Tories are failing in their duty to protect the public.

So here’s a plea to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary: face up to your responsibility and urgently act to restore funding and put police officers back on our streets.

Our communities here in Stockport and across Greater Manchester deserve nothing less.