Labour’s Cuts Risk Undoing a Generation of Policing Progress
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New police numbers confirm what chiefs have already warned –
Labour's cuts are gutting frontline policing. Years of Conservative
progress investment are being unravelled, putting public safety on
the line. Today's figures reveal that police numbers have dropped
by 1,316 officers, the equivalent of a 0.9% cut. Those are 1,300
officers who could have been on our streets, protecting our
neighbourhoods, investigating crime, backing up overstretched
teams, but aren't, because...Request free trial
New police numbers confirm what chiefs have already warned – Labour's cuts are gutting frontline policing. Years of Conservative progress investment are being unravelled, putting public safety on the line. Today's figures reveal that police numbers have dropped by 1,316 officers, the equivalent of a 0.9% cut. Those are 1,300 officers who could have been on our streets, protecting our neighbourhoods, investigating crime, backing up overstretched teams, but aren't, because Labour will never back the badge. And the recruitment crisis is deepening, as the number of new joiners has plummeted by 17 per cent in just a year, that's over 1,600 fewer officers coming through the door. A catastrophic drop when every force is crying out for new recruits. When they took office, police officer numbers were at their highest level since records began, of over 147,700 full-time equivalents. That was the legacy of the Conservative recruitment drive. But in just 12 months, officer numbers have already started to fall, erasing the gains we made. This is a devastating blow to neighbourhoods already dealing with rising crime and antisocial behaviour. Unfortunately, today's statistics are not a surprise and alongside police forces nationwide, the Conservatives have consistently been raising the alarm. Police Forces have been faced with a funding black hole of at least £118 million from January's Funding Settlement, the equivalent of 1,800 police jobs. And that's before you even factor in Labour's £230 million Jobs Tax, money that could pay for 3,600 officers, now swallowed by tax hikes. Chief officers have been warning they simply do not have the money to maintain current staffing, let alone deliver Labour's promises. Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley was clear, he said “Ambition and money go alongside each other.” Yet Labour's response has been to slash the Home Office budget in the middle of a knife crime epidemic, while quietly abandoning their flagship promises on policing. The Conservative Government delivered the highest number of police officers in British history. We kept our promise to the public and recruited 20,000 extra officers. We backed that up with record funding, boosting police budgets to £18.4 billion, a 30% cash increase compared to 2019, because we understood that frontline policing needs proper resources, not empty slogans. Furthermore, we protected the most vulnerable through our Grooming Gangs Taskforce working with every police force in England and Wales, leading to over 550 arrests, and protecting more than 4,000 children in its first year alone. That was a clear moral commitment to public safety. Labour is now reversing that progress, and it's the public who will pay the price. Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, said: “The Conservatives delivered record ever police numbers in March 2024. It is staggering that Labour has now presided over a fall of 1,313 police officers already. “Labour has let down policing and has let down the public. Yvette Cooper and Keir Starmer should hang their heads in shame. “We need police to catch criminals, respond to 999 calls, investigate crime, and patrol our streets. Labour has massively increased our taxes, squandered the money, and now they're reducing police numbers. The public are less safe as a result of Labour's incompetence. “We now know the truth: this Labour government is slashing the police.” ENDS Matt Vickers MP, Shadow Minister for Crime, Policing, and Fire, said: “Our officers are the first to run towards danger, the people we rely on when everything else breaks down. They are the reason parents feel safe letting their kids walk to school, the reason we can go out at night knowing someone will answer the call if things go wrong. “We recruited 20,000 extra officers, gave them the tools to do the job, and funded policing at record levels because we understood the simple truth that safer streets aren't optional. “If people feel less safe today, it's because Keir Starmer drained the budget and walked away from public safety.” ENDS Notes to editors: New data shows the impact of Labour's catastrophic choices on our police forces:
Labour have put 5,400 police officer jobs are at risk because of the catastrophic blackhole they've created and their Jobs Tax:
In government, the Conservatives supported our police to cut down on crime and protect the public:
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