David Cameron is trying to give us policing on the cheap

I RECENTLY gave a lecture on the history of policing in Hull and the East Riding – we’ve come a long way since the days of the Charlies and the old Nightwatchmen.

But it is worrying to realise that David Blunkett, when Home Secretary, set a precedent for diluting the police force by creating police community support officers (PCSOs) in the first place.

Was it his intention to have policing on the cheap?

The coalition Government has carried on where he left off and want to re-brand our police force without any doubt to save money despite the public demand for more police on the beat.

As the Yorkshire Post (April 12) rightly says: “The best way to maintain law and order is through high-profile policing.”

The public want warranted officers on the beat. I believe there is a scheme afoot to undermine the police force. The vital relationship that allows the build-up of intelligence and information in fighting crime would be severely reduced.

It is a bit late for Mr Blunkett to be giving warnings. He should have thought about the consequences of his actions when he first introduced PCSOs.

Our city centres at night have become no go areas and many elderly people feel less safe today. It’s about time Mr Cameron listened to the people and stopped giving billions away to foreign countries.

The policy of austerity inaugurated by this coalition Government, is, I believe, a smokescreen.

While executive pay rises to obscene proportions and the Government borrows money to give it away to India and Africa, we cut our own essential public services – especially the police force – under the guise of austerity. Austerity for whom? The public who make up the electorate – that’s whom!

Is there any wonder the teachers are up in arms, threatening strike action when they see their pensions eroded, their conditions of service mauled, and an extension to their working lives?

It is my conclusion that these changes to the police force will see crime rise.

The public needs to feel confident that the police are there in times of need, and that the warranted officer is their first line of contact.

No amount of excuses about redeploying them will wash. This is a reduction in police manpower. This Government will not only be judged on its handling of the economy, but also on its shameful attempts to privatise the entire public sector, and in particular its under-handed attempt to change the police service.

The public have every right to be alarmed.

Withdrawing from the European Union and from foreign wars could save a huge amount of money and settle national debts without hurting the ordinary members of the public.

I hope the public remember this in 2015.