Behind Abbott ’ s interview blunder is a sensible and costeffective policy
By Matthew Clifton
This week Diane Abbott unfortunately was let loose onto the radio and her interview was about as successful as a 10 care pile up . However , if you look at the details and beyond the interview and the costing drawn up by Labour , it shows an effective method . Meanwhile Theresa May would probably be happy about the coverage Mrs Abbott was getting because she has been under fire this week over her campaigning .
The policy in question is the promise that Labour will put 10,000 extra police officers on the streets . Raising questions about how it will be funded .
Labour outlined that it will be funded by reversing the cuts in capital gains tax ( CGT ) made by George Osbourne in April 2016 . Firstly , the figures show that in 2017 / 18 it will cost £ 64.3 million for a police recruitment drive , then a further £ 139.1m , £ 217.2m and £ 298.8m in 2018 / 19 , 2019 / 20 and 2020 / 21 respectively . This total £ 771m , or almost £ 800m , the figure cited by media outlets . Whilst this seems like a lot , according to page 85 of the treasury ’ s 2016 red budget book , reversing the cuts would yield £ 2.745 billion over the course of 5 years .
The common argument against hikes in taxes such as these , is that companies wouldn ’ t want to invest in the country . However , that doesn ’ t make sense considering the cuts in CGT happened in 2016 , meaning it was 6 years of a Conservative government who pushed heavily for global investment irrespective the cost to the taxpayers . The number of officers on the street peaked at 143,770 in 2009 but fell to 122,859 in 2016 and it was Theresa May as Home Secretary who authorised a 18 % cut in police funding . Whether there is link to the recent rise in gun-crime to the number of police on the street is debatable and as the Guardian pointed out , gun-crime a decade ago was more prevalent .
However , the crimes aren ’ t secluded to just the violent kind and there are other kinds of violence other than guns , knives and common assaults . There is sexual assault and within the society that often blames rape victims , more police could deter in the worst hit areas . There could be better responses to domestic abuse call-outs , as often officers arrive after the incident and are unable to make an arrest if the victim is too fearful to speak out , along with faster responses to burglaries etc .
The numbers make sense and the reasoning isn ’ t as simple as preventing gun and knife crime , that can only be truly achieved through education . There are other factors involved but at the time that Labour announce this policy and Diane Abbott made a series of blunders in the interview . Theresa May continued her private tour of the country by visiting Cornwall . Where she banned local media coverage of the event , she has no real
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Issue # 2 , 22 nd April
plan and will continue to cut public services . May ’ s continuing inability to convey a real message and the series of closed events outlines her contempt for democracy , fairness and equality .
A local election brief
The local elections by many were going to be an indicator over how well Jeremy Corbyn was doing as Labour leader . But this was always going to be the wrong way of looking at them . It should be an indicator of how the public feel about politics itself and as the results prove , no-one cares that much about national politics , let alone global politics . The result isn ’ t who won or who lost but who turned up to the voting booth .
The west of England Metro Mayor election saw a 29.72 % voter turnout for a significant position , the Metro Mayor controls a budget of £ 1bn and chairs the new West of England Combined Authority . Bristol is traditionally very politically active but only saw 31 % turnout for the vote with the general election being touted to have overshadowed the local elections . Manchester saw just 28.93 % turnout to vote Andy Burnham as Mayor , who will have substantially more powers than London ’ s Sadiq Khan over the city itself .
The problem with reading too much into the local election results , traditionally a lower turnout favours the Conservative Party . But also , the lack of voter turnout highlights the feeling that people either don ’ t think how much these make a difference to areas or don ’ t feel like their voice is being heard . Significant reform is required and education on local elections and the importance of them to the community .