There is deep concern about police resources - Abbott

Diane Abbott MP, Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, in response to the latest data on terrorism arrests, said:

"Labour is deeply concerned about the cuts that have been made to police officer numbers. As the recent Anderson report showed, counter-terrorism police and security services want to move towards greater reliance on community policing but that has been undermined by 20,000 police officers being cut under the Tories.

"There has been a record number of terrorism-related arrests but no comparable increase in the number of charges for terrorism offences which suggests problems about the quality of intelligence and a lack of police resources.

"Labour has repeatedly argued that you can't have security on the cheap. Labour will restore 10,000 police officers to make our policing more effective."

Ends

Notes to editors

• ·         The number of arrests in the year to September 2017 was a record 400, but the number of terrorism-related charges was 97. In the year to September 2016, the number of arrests was 255, but the number of charges was almost exactly the same at 96 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-quarterly-update-to-september-2016/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-and-subsequent-legislation-arrests-outcomes-and-stops-and-search-great-britain-quarterly