North West hardest hit by police cuts, says Labour

Yvette Cooper

Labour is claiming that North West England is the area worst affected by cuts in police numbers, outside of the capital.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper says the cuts are going "too far, too fast".

According to Labour its own analysis of Home Office statistics, shows that the North West has lost 1,287 police officers compared to the last quarter before the General Election.

Yvette Cooper is calling for North West MPs of all parties to vote against the scale of Government’s cuts to police forces when the matter it is debated in Parliament on 8th February.

Nationally police numbers have fallen to the lowest for a decade, with 8,000 fewer officers since the election and 6,000 since last year alone.

Miss Cooper said: "It's shocking that the North West has lost 1,287 police officers since the General Election.

"The scale of the Tory-led Government's cuts has led to the biggest fall in national police numbers in over a decade at the same time as we are seeing the biggest increase in personal crime.

"David Cameron and Theresa May are letting down communities and turning their backs on the police. They should be battling to cut crime, but they are just cutting the police instead.

"Police numbers have fallen to the lowest for a decade, with 8,000 fewer officers since the election and 6,000 since last year alone. At the same time personal crime including theft and violence has gone up by 11 per cent - the biggest increase in a decade.

"The Home Secretary's twenty per cent cuts go much further than the twelve per cent recommended by the independent inspectorate and supported by Labour.

"The Prime Minister's decision to cut policing too far and too fast when many crimes are increasing is putting communities at risk. MPs of all parties should vote against the scale of Government’s cuts to their local police force in Parliament on 8th February."

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