Oldham Lib-Dems slam 'unacceptable' police cuts

Councillor Howard Sykes

The true extent of ‘criminal’ Conservative police cuts in Greater Manchester have been revealed by local Liberal Democrats.
 
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE has spoken out following a Liberal Democrat analysis of new Home Office figures released recently. 

They revealed that the Conservative Government cut funding to Greater Manchester by 6.3% in real terms between 2015-16 and 2019-20.
 
According to data from the Home Office statistical bulletin: ‘Police funding for England and Wales 2015 to 2020,’ total government funding to all 43 forces in the UK (in 2019-20 prices) fell from £8.48 billion in 2015-16 to £7.99 billion in 2019-20. 

Thirty-two of the 43 forces across the country experienced cuts of 6% or more. 
 
Councillor Sykes said: “Across the country, we are seeing rising crime and falling police numbers. 

"Far too many people now feel unsafe walking down their own streets. This is unacceptable.
 
"Taking 5,000 police off our streets in the last four years and cutting funding in real-terms by £490 million from 2015-16 to 2019-20 are big Conservative crimes."
 
Councillor Sykes added: “Inflicting 6.3% cuts on our local police force over the last four years, given concerns about knife crime, shows just how out of touch the Conservatives are. 

"This is not what people want.

“The Liberal Democrats demand better. 

"We will give police forces the resources they need to recruit more officers and restore real community policing in our Borough, so that we can make our streets safer and make people feel safer too.”

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