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BBC

Opposition questions budget changes to UK police during Chancellor's speech

On Monday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak delivered a speech to the House of Commons, detailing the Government's plan to provide more funding for law enforcement in the United Kingdom. Sunak, who is seen as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's most powerful political ally, delivered his plan to give additional funding to law enforcement to "tackle serious crime" and "end the crime epidemic in Britain's major cities." The Chancellor emphasized the Prime Minister's position that the Government would have a tough policy on crime, especially violent ones such as stabbings, robberies, shootings, and other major crimes. Sunak went on to say that the additional funding would go toward the recruitment of some 5,000 additional police officers across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Funding would also go toward the National Crime Agency to support local police forces in combating organized crime and tackle the crisis.

Keir Starmer, the leader of the Opposition questioned why the government wanted to focus on "serious crime" rather than pushing for the enforcement of UK laws in general. "Is the central government planning to push for selective enforce the laws of the land?" Mr. Starmer asked following Sunak's speech, adding whether the Prime Minister planned to push for his "conservative conspiracy theories" describing how UK police agencies were going after "hateful persons such as Tommy Robinson or Mark Meechan, who the Prime Minister has supported in the past."
In response to the question, Mr. Sunak explained that the Government was providing funding to agencies across the UK in general, with the primary focus being that it be used for recruitment and upgrades.

"This Government's plan is to end the wave of crime across the board in Britain. Our plan facilitates this by increasing funding to struggling departments such as the London Metropolitan Police." The Chancellor explained, adding that previous governments had stripped funding from police, "sparking a crisis that we need to solve."

The government's full funding plan for the police will see an additional £2 billion spent on law enforcement. These funds will go primarily for recruitment, upgrades to police equipment, better training, and extra benefits for police officers working in especially dangerous areas. According to the government, this is the first phase of a plan to overhaul UK police, in order to "increase safety across the country."