Home secretary in '˜cuckoo land'

The union which represents serving police officers in Lancashire has accused Home Secretary Amber Rudd of being in '˜cloud cuckoo land' over the pressure on officers.

Rachel Hanley, chairman of the Lancashire branch of the Police Federation, made her remarks after Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott made their inaugural addresses to the Police Federation of England and Wales at their Annual Conference earlier this month.

She raised concern over the Home Secretary’s grasp of police duties beyond fighting crime, claiming she had ‘failed to heed officers’ warnings about how unprecedented levels of demand are making police officer’s jobs impossible.

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Mrs Hanley said: “She did not understand the demand issue at all, and she is still living in cloud cuckoo land if she thinks that it is all about crime. We know the reality of the situation is that 80 per cent of what we deal with is not crime-related; crime is just a very small part of it.

Rachel HanleyRachel Hanley
Rachel Hanley

“Whether you agree with her figures that crime is up or down, it really doesn’t make any difference because that is not what is taking our time up – it is everything else apart from crime that is creating the demand.

“Should the Conservative Government get re-elected and she remain Home Secretary, Amber Rudd needs to get in the real world and get a reality check on what’s really going on out there. A lot of officers from round the country raised the issue. They were telling her that officers are crumbling, policing is broken and the service needs investment.”

Amber Rudd has accepted invitations from a number of forces to visit their area and see how much officers are struggling.

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At the conference, Ms Rudd hailed a drop in crime figures and said officers around the country should be proud of their efforts. She said: “Crime is down by more than a third. That’s a record everyone in this room should be proud of.”

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