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Johnson’s canny commitment to 20,000 more police may prove both too demanding, and not enough

Editorial: Mr Johnson and Mr Malthouse have discovered the location of the magic money tree, presumably newly planted in Mr Javid’s back garden at No 11

Friday 26 July 2019 20:03 BST
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The loss of talent and expertise in the austerity phase of the 2010s did more damage than was feared at the time
The loss of talent and expertise in the austerity phase of the 2010s did more damage than was feared at the time

Given everything, it seems odd that the government decided to reduce police numbers by about 20,000 at the beginning of the decade, mostly through redundancies of experienced officers, only to take on about 20,000 new trainees a few years later.

So the frustration, if not anger, of some within our police forces is real and understandable. For years Theresa May, as home secretary and then prime minister, disdained their warnings about the effects of policing cuts on public safety. Now, with widespread concern about certain violent crimes, we finally have a government that is listening.

Police and public alike might find the first public utterance of the latest minister tasked with law and order, Kit Malthouse, rather disconcerting. According to Mr Malthouse, police minister and a crony of Boris Johnson, one of the most pressing practical issues facing him is “lockers” – in the sense that “finding locker space is going to be the key”.

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