Regionalisation by Stealth - Now the Police
I don’t normally bring my own local politics into this blog, but I suspect my personal views about police reorganisation reflect those of many; especially that it is another example of regionalisation by stealth.
This is the text of a letter I sent to my local press and which was published in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph on 16 November:
“The decision by the Home Office to rule out retaining a dedicated Cambridgeshire police force is nothing short of a disgrace. Over the last 20 years we have seen decision making and accountability in our police move further and further away from the people – it is no surprise that over that period public confidence in them has collapsedWhat is even more disappointing is that, over the last six months, I have noticed a real improvement in the way our police operate, with officers on the ground in Whittlesey, at last, being given the freedom to respond to the needs of the community. Why force change upon us during a period of improvement?My biggest concern is that this change has nothing to do with what is right for the police service but everything to do with the Government's desire to regionalise through the back door. We are about to see a reorganisation of strategic health authorities on a regional basis, Councils are being forced to merge services with other local authorities, effectively moving towards regionalisation, and decision-making on major road projects is also now regionalised.Your readership should be left in no doubt that the result of the failed referendum for an elected assembly in the North East of England did not result in an end to regionalisation, more a commitment to achieving it using typical, deceitful, New Labour tactics. One result of these underhand tactics will be a police force that is less accountable to the people they serve.Councillor Martin CurtisCambridgeshire County Councillor, Whittlesey North”
This is the text of a letter I sent to my local press and which was published in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph on 16 November:
“The decision by the Home Office to rule out retaining a dedicated Cambridgeshire police force is nothing short of a disgrace. Over the last 20 years we have seen decision making and accountability in our police move further and further away from the people – it is no surprise that over that period public confidence in them has collapsedWhat is even more disappointing is that, over the last six months, I have noticed a real improvement in the way our police operate, with officers on the ground in Whittlesey, at last, being given the freedom to respond to the needs of the community. Why force change upon us during a period of improvement?My biggest concern is that this change has nothing to do with what is right for the police service but everything to do with the Government's desire to regionalise through the back door. We are about to see a reorganisation of strategic health authorities on a regional basis, Councils are being forced to merge services with other local authorities, effectively moving towards regionalisation, and decision-making on major road projects is also now regionalised.Your readership should be left in no doubt that the result of the failed referendum for an elected assembly in the North East of England did not result in an end to regionalisation, more a commitment to achieving it using typical, deceitful, New Labour tactics. One result of these underhand tactics will be a police force that is less accountable to the people they serve.Councillor Martin CurtisCambridgeshire County Councillor, Whittlesey North”
posted by Martin Curtis at 12:47 PM
2 Comments:
You really are full of it, aren't you?
That's what I like - a nice solid, well thought out argument.
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