Andrew Dismore

Our hearts go out to the bereaved and injured in the Manchester bomb attack, the evil actions of a wicked individual and his cronies, whose warped beliefs bear no relation to the real faith of Islam as practiced by  so many of our Barnet and Camden neighbours.

We should also remember the outstanding  role played by the emergency and NHS  A and E services, faced with horrific scenes and potential  personal danger-  and we should remember them not just in the immediate aftermath , but also when they fairly and rightly argue for  the resources they need to do their jobs as well as they struggle do in the climate of cuts they have suffered.

None more so than the security and police services, especially at the local neighbourhood level. It has been well established that the ‘golden thread’ of intelligence that helps defeat terrorism often starts with the local tip off to well known on the ground ward officers and PCSOs, who patiently build relationships of trust with the communities they serve.

It is a disgraceful fact, that under the Conservatives, our  ward Safer Neighbourhood teams  disappeared and borough officer numbers were cut.

By 2010, when I was still Hendon’s MP, I had  negotiated with the then Met.  Commissioner  an increase in each of Barnet’s ward teams to 9 officers and PCSOs, each headed by their own sergeant. Then, we had 607 police officers and 171 PCSOs in Barnet, too.

Although the incoming Conservative MP and now candidate  for Hendon promised more officers, he did the opposite. The Conservatives cut £600 million from the Met.’s budget, and the Met faces a further £400 million cuts  to come- a total of a third of its 2010 budget. With 80% of its income spent on  staff costs, officer numbers have inevitably fallen.

By last year, each ward had just 1 PC and 1 PCSO, if they were lucky;  Golders Green and Whetstone Police Stations had closed and High Barnet cut to office hours only.  As of March 2017 , we have just 499 warranted officers- a cut of over 100, and just 32 PCSOs, a cut of 139. That’s almost  250 fewer pairs of eyes and ears in Barnet  ,  looking out for us and listening to what is going on.

London Mayor Sadiq  Khan has done his best to mitigate the effect of the Conservative cuts. The Met.’s share of the Council Tax has gone up to pay for more officers and he is delivering a minimum of two  officers and one PCSO for every ward. However,  rebuilding   the Met.’s effectiveness to tackle not just terrorism but also burglary and the recent  growth crimes, like hate crime,  knife and acid  attacks , moped enabled robberies, and cyber fraud  cannot be achieved  through the  council tax.

Cressida Dick, The  new Met Police Commissioner, has  warned that London stands to lose another 4,000 warranted officers. This shows the need for  a dramatic change of course in Government  funding.

The Conservatives have not promised more police for  London: indeed under their current funding formula review, the real risk is that we get even less.

That is why I am pleased that Labour is promising  an extra 10,000 officers across England and Wales, an extra 1000 security services officers,  and 500 more border guards.

Labour  achieved these improvements when in Government before, and will do so  again if elected on June 8^th.

Andrew Dismore AM

Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden