London Mayor Sadiq Khan: 'Police cuts are unsustainable'

I have been saying for the last 13 months, since
I became the Mayor, we don't have the resources we need to
provide the best police service we can. The police worked their socks
off, we saw it on Saturday night. But it is a fact they have lost £600
million from their budget. It is also a fact that means thousands of
police staff have been lost, police stations have closed down. But the
Tory party have plans to make a further £400 million worth of cuts
over the next three or four years. On top of that, to change the police
funding formula, which means we could lose £700 million. It is not
rocket science. With less money, means we can do less and less.
Theresa May says since 2015 the police budget has been protected.
Are you saying she is personally responsible for London being less
safe now than it was a few years back?
London is the safest global city in the world. London is a safe
city, the threat level across the country has been severe for a while.
But the police work incredibly hard with the emergency services and
others to keep our city say. But it is also true when I speak to be
experts, one of the things the intelligence services rely upon is
information from the community. The best way to give the public
confidence is to have more police officers in the community to restore
neighbourhood policing. That is why I have been arguing over the last 12
months not to have further cuts from the Met police budget, but for us to
have additional resources because as a capital city, our needs are far
greater than other parts of the country.
You say London is the safest city in the world but you
also saying the cuts are having a devastating effect. Both of those
things cannot be true, can they? We
are the safest global city in the world but Bert comes a point when
the only thing you can cut is the bone. We need help from the
government, no more cuts to make sure we can provide the right number
of officers we need. When I first became the mad, I approved 600
additional armed officers because I accepted we need to have more armed
officers to keep the city say. But the reality is, we cannot take any
more. The government plans to cut a further £400 million is not
sustainable. If they change the police funding formula and cuts a
further £700 million it is not sustainable. The only thing we can
cut now is police officers. You are
putting Theresa May under pressure on that, you have come under
pressure from the US president. What do you thing he has got against you?
Look, Saint Saturday I have been working with the police, with the
emergency services, with the government and others to deal with
the horrific attack on Saturday. I haven't got the time to respond to
tweets from Donald Trump. Would you
like the state visit to be called off?
My position remains the same. I don't think we should roll out the
red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his
policies go against everything we stand for. One of the things, when
you have a special relationship, it is no different to when you have a
close mate. You stand with them in times of adversity, but call them
out when they are wrong. And there are many things on which Donald
Trump is wrong.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan: 'Police cuts are unsustainable'

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