Kemi Badenoch Police Federation Speech

Today [Thursday 22^nd October], Kemi Badenoch MP delivered a speech at the Police Federation Conference.

Please see the full text of the speech below:

I'm here to tell you what the Conservative Party under my leadership is about.

But let's start with understanding what your jobs are about.

The job of a police officer is to maintain public order, catch criminals and keep our streets safe.

That is what the public expects. 

But it is also why people like you join the police.

Very few people understand what it takes to be a great police officer.

The pressure that you come under every day,

The darker side of human nature which you are forced to confront,

The weight of responsibility that you carry on your shoulders.

I want you to know that I understand.

Policing has never been an easy job.

And I know that in recent years your job has been made even harder.

Sergeant Martyn Blake's job was made harder because he didn't get the backing he deserved for using common sense.

I think about PC Andrew Harper who was killed in the most horrific manner leaving behind a grieving family.

His colleagues' jobs were made harder when they were told his killers were going to be released early from prison.

PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough were killed because violence and thuggery had spiralled out of control in Cleveland, something that might not have happened had there been more police officers in the area.

If we want a police force which keeps the public safe, we must fix these injustices for you, the police, as well and I have a plan.

Part of it means backing you to do your jobs.

Too often these days, we fail to recognise sacrifice and service.

Whether it's hounding brave and elderly veterans through the courts,

Hounding police officers who try to do the right thing, 

Or even ordinary members of the public who step in to help only to find they're in trouble themselves.

It's no wonder that people in this country are becoming too scared to wade in, too scared to do the right thing.

Well, I am different.

I am not scared to wade in, and I am not scared to back the police.

I think it is telling that for two years in a row, the Labour Government has not sent anyone to address this Conference, not the Policing Minister, not the Home Secretary.

You are the ones who enforce the law.

You are the ones who ensure there are consequences for bad behaviour.

That's why if we want law and order back in our country, back in our streets, we need to back the police.

I know that you have had to make difficult decisions every single day.

Sometimes you have seconds to decide in dangerous situations that most of us will never have to experience.

You have to be able to trust that those decisions will be judged fairly.

Sergeant Martyn Blake's case should have been open and shut.

He should have been straight back to work after a brief investigation.

Instead, his career was put on hold, his name was dragged through the mud and his family were put under enormous strain.

The process became the punishment. This is what I want to stop.

Even now he still has an inquest hanging over him.

Why would good officers confront danger if a lawful decision leaves them facing years of uncertainty?

That is not good for you, and it is not good for the public we all serve.

But when a police officer does something wrong, there should be proper accountability.

I have met families who have suffered because of devastating police failures.

Look at the case of Henry Nowak.

I know that many police officers, many of you, like all of us, were shocked by the decisions that were made that day.

You can understand why people lost faith in the police when they saw the video footage of Henry's last moments.

Often, instead of being given answers, those families have to fight to uncover the truth themselves about what happened.

Something is clearly going wrong.

When officers face lengthy investigations over open and shut cases and then families are left to uncover serious wrongdoing themselves.

We need a system that gets its priorities right.

Accountability and fairness must go together.

That is the balance that we need to restore.

I want to rebuild policing around something we all believe in, keeping the public safe.

Right now, I know that you are stretched so thinly, many in the public feel you are becoming a ghost service. We've got to fix that.

That means giving you the time, the equipment and the support to do your jobs properly.

I know the problems that are on your mind.

Here's how I can help with some of them.

First, paperwork.

Every hour that is lost to paperwork is an hour you don't spend catching criminals.

Of course, recording evidence is important.

But spending hours filling in unnecessary forms is not good policing.

It is a waste of your time, and it is a waste of taxpayers' money.

So, we are going to make disclosure more proportionate.

No longer will you be filling out use-of-force forms for consensually bringing someone to the police station in handcuffs. It's a waste of time.

No longer will you spend hours redacting cases that never end up being charged. Waste of time.

We will automate admin tasks. There is AI now, it can be done.

We will expand live facial recognition so instead of spending hours and hours trawling through CCTV, you'll get a match in seconds.

Those are Conservative policies.

We are also going to stop treating the police as a clean-up crew for gaps left by other public bodies.

I know of cases where officers have had to sit outside mental health units with a vulnerable person in their car for hours on end.

Not because that person has committed a crime, not because there weren't enough beds, but because the hospital staff said they were too busy to deal with anyone else. 

But you know and I know the plice are busy as well.

In 2024, every time a Met officer took someone to A&E because of their mental health, they waited an average of 12 hours.

When another part of the public sector is failing to do its job, the responsibility shouldn't always end up with the police as the last line of defence.

I know how demoralising it is for you to spend weeks building a case, getting the CPS to take it, securing a conviction, and then seeing the same offender back on the streets committing more crimes in your patch.

That's why we are also going to build 50,000 new prison places.

We need to think about these problems end to end - the whole system.

More prison places will mean lasting consequences for people who break the law, fewer victims left in harm's way, and less time spent rearresting the same person over and over again.

To help you do your jobs, we are also going to hire more police officers.

Nearly 90% of officers say there aren't enough of you to meet the demands on your teams.

So, we are going to recruit 10,000 more police officers including 2,000 in notorious crime hotspots, and we have found the money to do so.

That means more officers where crime is happening in places like Cleveland, for instance.

And it means more capacity to investigate those crimes.

We need to recruit the right people and prepare them for the realities of the job.

But recruitment is only part of the answer.

We also need to make sure that once we have good officers, we keep them.

The Police Federation's recent survey of police officers makes for grim reading.

More than half of you are reporting low morale. 

Nearly a quarter of you intend to resign within two years or as soon as they can.

Policing used to be a career that people loved.

But I know many former police officers who didn't feel that way by the end.

I know that many of you feel worn down by the demands of the role, even though you still believe in its purpose.

We cannot just keep recruiting new officers to replace good ones who have left.

That is no way to run a police service.

This should be a job people love; we want you to love your job and we are going to make it a job you love again.

Conservatives are going to back you for using your common sense.

You'll hear me use that phrase all the time, it's all about common sense.

You will spend less time on pointless admin.

You will have more colleagues with you on the front line.

And this will be, and must be, a job that people love again.

That is what we are going to do.

Now, I know that you would also all like a massive pay rise as well.

I'm sorry I can't promise that just yet, at least not on day one.

I am not going to stand here and promise something without a plan to pay for it.

Too many politicians have done that, and it only leads to disappointment.  We have to be real.

We can all see our country is running out of money and until we fix our economy it will be very difficult to afford real pay rises.

But I can promise you this.

Under a Conservative Government, we are going to fix our economy, we are going to be a richer country and then we will be able to pay you more.

In the meantime, everyone, including police officers and their families, will benefit from the other policies we introduce.

Abolishing stamp duty. You also need to move home, you also need to buy homes. Abolishing stamp duty will make a big difference to your disposable income. 

Extending free childcare, that's important. I know the hours you work. All of those things will make a difference. 

Scrapping business rates on the high street. You have partners, you have families whose jobs are impacted by these other policies.

I know that all those things will benefit you too.

I believe in rewarding people who work hard, take responsibility and contribute to our country.

And I know you do too, which is why you're doing this job.

Unlike NHS staff, teachers and civil servants, you guys can't go on strike.

That makes the Police Federation's role particularly important.

You need a strong, credible organisation that can represent your interests, speak up for you, and make sure your concerns are heard.

And I'm delighted to be speaking to you all at the Police Federation Conference.

But we cannot shy away from the fact that the Federation is currently facing some significant challenges.

I know work is being done to address these challenges. We in the Conservative Party are following that work very closely.

Because it matters to us that you have a Federation you can trust and rely on.

And it matters that government listens to officers. And it needs to listen to officers through a body that is effective and accountable.

So, I want a constructive relationship with the Federation and with police officers, of course, based on honesty and based on mutual respect.

Because we all want to make policing better.

Your job is not easy.

I know the pressures you face and the frustration you feel when you are prevented from doing the job you signed up for.

And I know that, despite all of that, so many of you continue to serve with extraordinary dedication.

I will never take what you do for granted.

You put your lives on the line to protect this country and that is why I want you to know that I have your back.