Thames Valley’s Labour MPs today called for government to properly resource Thames Valley Police, after cuts of £100 million have been made to its budget under Conservative ministers. This is part of a national trend, with the number of police officers plummeting by 21,000 since 2010.
Thames Valley Police Federation Chairman Craig O’Leary recently warned of his fears if police funding is raided to provide additional cash for the NHS. And after being responsible for a very significant and expensive fraud investigation (the HBOS case, which had a net cost of £5m to the force), TVP is apparently now having to cover the costs of policing Donald Trump’s visit to Blenheim next Thursday.
Tan Dhesi, Labour MP for Slough; Anneliese Dodds, Labour MP for Oxford East; and Matt Rodda, Labour MP for Reading East, have all called for proper resourcing for Thames Valley Police (see pic).
Anneliese Dodds said: “Our police services have been starved of funding since 2010, and we can see the impact everywhere in our communities. Police officers are doing their very best but this is in straightened circumstances. It would be a travesty if policing is raided yet again, to fill budget holes elsewhere. At the last election Labour showed that reversing recent tax cuts would provide sufficient funds to increase revenue for the NHS and policing, as well as other areas- but instead we have a secret chipping away of our thin blue line”.
Matt Rodda said: “I’m concerned about the deep Government cuts being made to Thames Valley Police, which I believe are making it noticeably harder for the police to fight crime.
“Given the pressure on Thames Valley Police I think it is only fair that the Government pays for the cost of one-off operations such as policing President Trump’s visit to Blenheim Palace, particularly when there is a precedent for the Home Office paying for the policing of other similar national events, such as the cost of policing President Trump’s visit to London.”
Tan Dhesi said: “It is simply unfair to expect Thames Valley Police to foot the bill for Donald Trump’s visit – something which many of us don’t want in the first place. Certainly, our residents would rather see that money go towards putting more bobbies on the beat to tackle crime and make our communities safer”.