In response to a report published today by the National Audit Office (NAO), which has criticised the Government’s approach to police funding, Labour’s London Assembly Spokesperson for Policing and Crime, Unmesh Desai AM, said:
“This damning report is yet more incontrovertible proof of the Government’s wilful indifference towards calls for the police to be adequately funded.
“It is absolutely shameful that repeated calls from the Mayor for the Government to put an end to its reckless agenda of cuts to the Met Police, which will total £1 billion by 2021, are still being ignored. When it comes to the rise in violent crime and the insurmountable pressures that have been placed upon local policing, the Government have kept their head in the sand.
“At this stage, it is difficult to see exactly what will make the Government confront the cold, hard reality of their failed programme of austerity. They need to urgently wake up and take notice of this report, which spells out in black and white that in order to effectively tackle crime, our police need sufficient investment and resources”.
ENDS
Notes to editors
-The Metropolitan Police have been forced to make savings of £720 million to their budget since 2010, and will need to deliver a further £325 million in savings by 2021.
Unmesh Desai AM is the London Assembly Member for City and East (covering Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and the City of London).