Announcing the full list of Labour’s candidates for the numerous Police and Crime Commissioner posts up for election, Ed Miliband MP – leader of the Labour Party – urged that Labour is “determined to stand up for local communities” in these elections.
“The Government is making the wrong choices on crime, taking frontline police off the streets, weakening powers to deal with anti-social behaviour and opening the door to the privatisation of core services,” suggested Miliband.
“Labour candidates will fight the impact of these reckless changes,” he continued, “working within local communities to bring about the change people want.”
Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s shadow Home Secretary, added her voice to that of the party’s leader.
“Labour Police and Crime Commissioners will stand up for local communities against the Tory-led Government’s unprecedented attack on the police and community safety.”
According to Cooper, Labour’s work with communities and the police helped cut crime and anti-social behaviour, with crime supposedly falling by 43% when her party was in Government.
“Instead, David Cameron and Theresa May are cutting the police service numbers by 20%, with the loss of over 16,000 police officers, and making it harder for the police to use DNA, CCTV and forensic evidence. At the same time we are seeing worrying rises in personal crime.”
Call off the November elections
Labour still believes the Government should call off the November Police and Crime Commissioner elections and instead spend the extra money involved on over 3,000 new sworn police constables.
“If they don’t, Labour’s talented and experienced candidates for Police and Crime Commissioners will campaign hard against these Government cuts,” suggested the shadow Home Secretary, “putting neighbourhood policing first with bobbies on the beat and a promise not to privatise the neighbourhood patrol or leave it only to PCSOs.”
Labour’s list of Police and Crime Commissioner candidates is as follows:
Bedfordshire: Oliver Martins, Cambridgeshire: Ed Murphy, Essex: Val Morris-Cook, Hertfordshire: Sherma Batson, Norfolk: Steve Morphew, Suffolk: Jane Basham, Nottinghamshire: Paddy Tipping, Derbyshire: Alan Charles, Leicestershire: Sarah Russell, Lincolnshire: Phil Dilks, Northamptonshire: Lee Barron, Cumbria: Patrick Leonard, Cleveland: Barry Coppinger, Durham: Ron Hogg, Northumbria: Vera Baird, Cheshire: John Stockton, Greater Manchester: Tony Lloyd, Lancashire: Clive Grunshaw, Merseyside: Jane Kennedy, Hampshire: Jacqui Rayment, Kent: Harriet Yeo, Surrey: Robert Evans, Sussex: Godfrey Daniel, Thames Valley: Tim Starkey, Avon and Somerset: Bob Ashford, Devon and Cornwall: Nicky Williams, Dorset: Rachel Rogers, Gloucestershire: Rupi Dhanda, Wiltshire: Clare Moody, Dyfed Powys: Christine Gwyther, Gwent: Hamish Sandison, North Wales: Tal Michael, South Wales: Alun Michael, Staffordshire: Joy Garner, Warwickshire: James Plaskitt, West Mercia: Simon Murphy, West Midlands: Bob Jones, Humberside: Lord John Prescott, North Yorkshire: Ruth Potter, South Yorkshire: Shaun Wright and West Yorkshire: Mark Burns-Williamson.
Cooper continued: “Our candidates have a wealth of experience in national and local policing, community safety, youth justice, crime prevention and sentencing – experience that’s going to be vital when trying to protect communities and fight crime despite the reckless actions of this Government.”
The shadow Home Secretary went on to state: “Policing is too important to leave in the hands of a deeply discredited Tory-led Government or their cheerleader commissioners. Our candidates will work hard to defend our communities while reforms to these plans are debated.”
In conclusion, Cooper explained: “Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime is still Labour’s approach because it works. It worked for our communities before and could again if supported by Government. Our Police and Crime Commissioner candidates will stand up for this approach and for the local communities whose safety is being put at risk by this Government.”
