Home Secretary Theresa May “didn’t enthuse officers”

NEIL Bowles, chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, has said he was “very underwhelmed” with the Home Secretary’s speech at this year’s Police Federation conference.

Theresa May said she had asked Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, headed by Sir Tom Winsor, to investigate how the police service was handling domestic abuse, and spoke again about the continuing need for the Federation to reform the way it operates.

But Mr Bowles said Mrs May “did not give anything to enthuse police officers nationally who day in, day out, put their lives on the line”.

In regards to domestic violence, the Home Secretary “talked as if we were back in the 1960s before she came along”, he said. “Things had developed on that front way before she came into office and I’m glad to see that it’s improving all the time.”

Mr Bowles (pictured) described it as a “political manoeuvring speech” with little to motivate officers.

“She made pains to talk about sins of the past and then almost put the ‘feedback sandwich’ together – but it was a very thin slice of praise about how we have developed in the last couple of years,” he said.

Mrs May said little about the 2.8 per cent pay rise requested by the Federation. “We have taken probably a 15 per cent pay cut in real terms in the life of this government and the last coalition government,” said Mr Bowles. “It’s evidentially based that the 2.8 per cent is a good figure to keep pace with the private sector and I believe the officers deserve it. Officers deserve to be treated fairly.”

The South Yorkshire Chairman said Mrs May had “tried to dip her shoulder” on police assaults as well.

The Federation appealed to the Home Secretary to commit to increasing the sentences of those guilty of assaulting public servants. She said the Home Office was working with the Federation to “look at the issues and gather a much better evidence base” but that more discussions were needed to see a way forward.

However, Mr Bowles concluded: “As Home Secretary she can say ‘This is what I want’, but she’s refusing to do that.”