Mayor fails on promise to deliver extra police - Tope

1.17.00pm GMT Wed 12th Mar 2008

The Mayor will not achieve the 1000 police as promised in his budget as the Home Office has refused funding for almost a third of this number, it was revealed today by the London Assembly Liberal Democrats.

The Home Office has stated that it does not support the Mayor's bid for an additional 300 police for Royal and Diplomatic protection. Instead they have agreed to fund only 97 police officers - not even a third of those requested by the Mayor. This is despite Ken Livingstone's election pledge to deliver more police on the streets.

Today, under questioning from Policing Spokesman for the London Assembly Liberal Democrats, Graham Tope, the Mayor acknowledged that the Home Office was withholding funds and not supporting his bid, as assumed in his budget.

Commenting on this latest failure in the Mayor's budget pledge, Liberal Democrat Assembly Member, Graham Tope said:

"The Mayor should not make budget pledges unless he knows he has the power to enact them. It is clear that he does not have the support of the Home Office to provide these extra police and you have to ask why the Mayor did not ensure their backing before now.

"We discovered that the extra 1000 police promised by the Mayor were not as a result of his budget, and now we find out that Government is not willing to fund this Mayoral promise.

"The Mayor's budget pledge for 1000 extra police on the streets of London is not only misleading but it is also incompetent. Perhaps next time, Ken should try finding out whether he has the support to fulfil his policies before trying to grab headlines."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. The Home Office's refusal to fund the 300 extra police was revealed on 21 February 2008 at the Metropolitan Police Authority Finance Committee meeting.

2. Graham Tope is the Chair of the MPA Finance Committee.