After a decade of deep and damaging cuts to our police forces, an increase in police funding will do little to mend the damage from ten years of Tory rule. This is clearly evident in Bristol. Additional money promised for Avon and Somerset Police will mean 403 new officers over three years. To put that in perspective, the force has lost 700 officers since 2010.These cuts can have tragic consequences. Bristol had 1,237 knife crimes in the last twelve months, an 11% increase on the previous year.Of course, policing is only part of the picture. Sadly, other areas which successfully kept people safe have also been cut to the bone, including drug services, youth services, mental health services and domestic violence prevention.More money for the police is of course welcome. But we are now living with the consequences of the worst kind of short term policy-making. In the meantime, hardworking police officers are exposed to unnecessary risks. The government must acknowledge the consequences of these cuts – and urgently work to treat the resulting problems like rising knife crime. Watch my full speech here: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/ad8b51f1-c141-46cd-b6ec-8dc91739e294?in=15:18:09&out=15:26:30

Posted by Thangam Debbonaire on Thursday, January 30, 2020