We will be working to take control and reverse the decades of devastation that the Council has subjected our city to.
I was determined to maintain police officer numbers at 2,242 full time equivalents. To afford that has meant cutting the number of other staff.
They are hard to address unless you have a local presence, resources, and incentives to solve things that may seem small in City Hall, but loom large in people’s minds.
Lancashire Police’s tone reeks of deflection at a time when it now faces tough questions about its handling of the case.
Basic services – the NHS, policing, schools, road maintenance, refuse collection, you name it – have gone to rack and ruin. Life expectancy has fallen sharply. We still have, to our shame, by far the worst drug death levels in Europe.
Cooper also claims that introducing “Respect Orders” would give stronger powers to stop anti social behaviour.
We also need to be a safer city. It is a scandal that London’s roads are the least safe of any major European city, with Transport for London buses involved in 24,000 collisions each year.
More integration between police forces and elected representatives would help fix the broken community reporting system that leaves victims feeling helpless and isolated.
Suffolk has a new Chief Constable, who has only been in post for a couple of months, as has the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. They will be held to account over time, but we need to give them space to do their jobs.
Insisting on degrees is an example of pointless red tape, and I want to get rid of all such bureaucratic burdens. Sir Stephen House’s Operational Productivity Review is designed to do just that.
It would enhance democracy and local accountability, be better value for money for the taxpayer, and be more effective in reducing crime.
The Transport Secretary insists that we have “incredibly tough laws” on guns and the “police have seized a significant number of weapons”
Catchy slogans are no substitute for a clear focus on the basics: more officers, proper investigations, and higher solve rates.
Family is not always a comfortable topic, especially in the political world. Yet it has been proven to be the biggest determining factor in a child’s life outcomes.
Our goals: better protection for individuals and businesses from scammers, an end to our inadvertent role in helping drug traffickers and people smugglers launder the proceeds of their crimes, and leadership in the fight against Putin’s barbaric regime.