Police outrage after Abbott’s ‘poisonous’ tweet over arrest
DIANE ABBOTT was condemned by police last night for claiming that officers are using a ‘disproportionate level of force’ to arrest young black men.
The Shadow Home Secretary sparked controversy by accusing Scotland Yard of ‘poisoning’ relations with the black community through their stop-and-search tactics.
The row erupted after the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington took to Twitter to highlight a video of a 23-year-old man being wrestled to the ground and sprayed with CS gas by four officers, adding that unnecessary force by police against young black men ‘has to stop’.
But John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation that represents rank and file officers, hit back. ‘These comments are inflammatory and cause tensions within communities,’ he said. ‘Such sweeping anti-police statements without knowing the facts are incredibly damaging. It is comments like these which poison policecommunity relations.’
Serving and retired officers pointed out that the man in the video, who was detained last Thursday in Harlesden, North-West London, had been suspected of involvement in a stabbing, was resisting arrest and had been caught smoking cannabis.
The Police Inspectors Forum told Ms Abbott: ‘It really is so disappointing that you continue to make such ill-informed comments. No mention of the personal responsibility to cooperate. You carry no credibility to be Home Secretary.’
Steve Treharne, vice-chairman of South Wales Police Federation, said: ‘Easy to criticise from behind the relative safety of a keyboard.’
Armed response officer Sergeant Harry Tangye wrote: ‘This sort of tosh is why this person should never be in charge of the police.’
And former Met officer Mike Pannett added: ‘What a disgraceful comment to make. All police officers know exactly what the individual in the video was trying to do. Resist arrest and intimidate the officers. I and others have seen this thousands of times. She’s not helping.’
Ms Abbott is no stranger to controversy. Ahead of last year’s General Election, s he f orgot detail s of Labour’s law and order plans during a live radio interview and claimed her party would recruit between 10,000 and 250,000 extra officers for between £ 300,000 and £ 80 million. This would have meant an average salary of between £30 and £8,000.
The incident in Harlesden was filmed by bystanders and posted on social media. The footage shows an angry crowd and bottles being thrown at officers. At one point the suspect – arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis, obstructing a drugs search and two counts of assaulting police – appears to try to bite an officer.
The Met has referred the incident to its internal Directorate of Professional Standards.
‘You carry no credibility to be Home Secretary’