What a bonkers political statement by Tory AM Richard Barnes in the Ealing Times.THE Mayor of London is putting too much money into extra cops according to Ealing's London Assembly representative.
Richard Barnes, assembly member for Hillingdon and Ealing made the remarks in response to Ken Livingstone's announcement that he will fund an extra 1,000 officers in the next financial year.Mr Livingstone announced this week extra cash would be spent on the Met.He said £59m will fund additional security and counter-terrorism officers, £3.9m will fund officers to tackle specific community issues and £2m will be put into combating gun and gang culture in the city.
But Mr Barnes said he does not think so much money needs to be put into extra policing.He said: "More police in London are always welcome, but I don't think so much money should be spent on them."Better policing could also be achieved by restructuring in the organisation."
Mr Livingstone, said: "I am able to confirm that with this budget London will gain an extra 1,000 uniformed police, a major contribution to making our city safer and more secure."The results of more police on the beat on local streets are there for all to see, crime in London fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2007.""The successes in reducing overall crime levels must be extended to tackle the toughest problems like youth gun and knife crime, by providing the police with the resources they need and by investing in our young people through a massive injection of support for youth provision."
Ken Livingstone has responded:
‘This is an amazing statement, totally contradicting what most Londoners think about the need to fund our police service properly.
‘I give an absolute commitment that I will not cut the financial support to our police officers and the Tories in London should be ashamed for calling for this cut. Time and time again in London we have seen the consequences of cuts to our public services and we cannot afford to go back to ill-judged cuts which damage London in the long time.’
Richard Barnes AM - What a plonker?
