Who will keep Britain secure?

Questions to answer on policing

IT IS naive to characterise this election as a straight choice between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn in this increasingly presidential contest. It’s far more nuanced.

It’s about who should be Foreign Secretary – Boris Johnson or Emily Thornberry?

It’s about who should be Chancellor – Philip Hammond or John McDonnell?

And it’s about who should be Home Secretary entrusted with keeping this country safe – Amber Rudd or Diane Abbott?

Prime Ministers can’t do everything. They have to delegate and trust their Ministers. And, regrettably, the terrorist outrage in Manchester a week ago has brought the issue of national security into sharp focus.

Let it be said that the police have responded magnificently to the terror threat – and the public’s co-operation, and show of support for the security services at weekend events across the country, could not have been more sincere.

However the main parties are performing a disservice to voters, and the police, by resorting to personal attacks rather than focusing on the policy debate and their respective records. Both have questions to answer.

For Ms Rudd and the Tories, it is whether cuts to police numbers – and a diminution of the control orders first introduced by Labour’s David Blunkett – have made Britain less safe. The coalition’s role in overthrowing Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi also created a vacuum that is said to have radicalised the Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi.

For Ms Abbott and Labour, it is whether the Home Office can be entrusted with a politician who once signed a Commons motion calling for the abolition of the M15 intelligence agency; whose policing plans simply don’t add up and who does not seem embarrassed by past expressions of support for terrorist organisations like the IRA.

And, while Ms Abbott could not have been less convincing or reassuring, the point is this as the opinion polls narrow. The country should be hearing far more from those Ministers and Shadow Ministers who hope to be running the country after June 8. If they have a higher profile, it can only help undecided voters to make the right decision.