THE Home Secretary has said it is \u201cimpossible not to feel sympathy\u201d with police officers following \u201cpainful\u201d changes to their pay and conditions – but has again refused to back down over reform.<\/p>\n
Theresa May repeated her view that changes to police pay have been \u201cvital\u201d in maintaining frontline services while budgets are slashed.<\/p>\n
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During an event held by think-tank Reform, Mrs May\u00a0revealed her strategy in dealing with people and organisations with “vested interests” such as the Police Federation.<\/p>\n
\u201cReform means taking difficult decisions, and difficult decisions often mean upsetting people \u2013 especially when the change involves pay and conditions. But that doesn\u2019t mean you can shirk them,” she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to decide what is in the national interest and do it. Keep making your case, always remind people of what you\u2019re trying to achieve, what\u2019s the end objective, but whatever you do, don\u2019t buckle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs May again insisted that crime is down despite cuts to policing. While she thanked the efforts of officers up and down the country and the leadership of chief constables, she also claimed that the fall in crime is down to police reform.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the case of the police, of course changes to pay and conditions and pensions have been painful for some officers, and it\u2019s impossible not to feel sympathy with them”, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut those changes have been vital in maintaining the frontline service as we reduce spending \u2013 and just as importantly they\u2019ve given chief constables real freedom to lead their forces better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs May described reform as \u201cgritty and unglamorous work\u201d, highlighting efforts made to cut down on consultancy contracts, marketing spending and procurement costs.<\/p>\n
Risking further scorn from rank and file officers, she insisted that the Police Federation, Labour Party and ACPO had been wrong to predict that “frontline policing would be decimated and crime would go up” when government decided to cut police budgets by 20 per cent.\u00a0\u00a0“In fact, the opposite happened \u2013 crime is\u00a0down by more than ten per cent since the election,” she said.<\/p>\n
The Home Secretary joked about her recent appearances at the Police Federation Conference, saying: \u201cThe first time I spoke at the Police Federation conference was straight after the 2010 election, and we hadn\u2019t yet had to take any difficult decisions. There was laughter, applause, I even got a standing ovation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second time I spoke I was received in total silence. The third time I was roundly booed and jeered. This year, I don\u2019t think I can say they were enthusiastic \u2013 but I got out alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
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