Northampton South MP, Brian Binley, has hit out at the Government’s plans to slash police pay, while branding last year’s police commissioner elections a “debacle”.
Home Secretary Theresa May yesterday confirmed she planned to press ahead with a package of far-reaching reforms, which will include cutting annual pay for new police constables by £4,000 to £19,000.
The Police Federation warned the pay packet failed to reflect the demands of the job, while Labour said forces would struggle to recruit officers with the right skills.
Mr Binley, has also hit out at the plans in his latest blog, published this afternoon.
He said: “I’m concerned by the announcement that salaries for police recruits are to be slashed. I fear that the £4,000 cut in starting salaries will turn out to be yet another divisive and damaging policy, put out by the leadership in haste for the rest of the party to repent at leisure.”
He added: “The real problems in the police force aren’t at the lower levels. A £23,000 salary is not, to my mind, outrageous for a new recruit. No, the real problems lie further up the hierarchy.
“The Labour years of Government saw a massive swelling of the top and middle of the police pyramid and the introduction of bureaucracy to an unprecedented level.
“Everything was about targets, which meant that most police work turned into an exercise in filling out paperwork and manipulating figures. middle-managers abounded.”
The increasingly outspoken Tory rebel also said it was time for the Prime Minister to “knuckle down and take control” of the reforms, accusing David Cameron of “not being too bothered” about Conservative voters.
He added: “All this makes me worry that David Cameron simply isn’t taking the next election seriously enough. The police are at the heart of Conservative voters’ concerns. We absolutely must ensure we remain the party which voters can trust in that area.
“But, as he’s demonstrated time and again, the leader of the Conservative Party too often gives the impression that he’s not bothered about Conservative voters.
“He’d far rather pursue the fashionable causes of gay marriage and climate change, even if it means alienating the activists who are so crucial to any hope of being re-elected in 2015.
“The Police Crime Commissioners elections were a debacle. We cannot let these police reforms go the same way. David Cameron and Theresa May need to knuckle down and take control.”
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