Party Lines: November 15th

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By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Ed Balls spoke out in response to reports that Greater Manchester Police is planning to lose 1500 police officers and 1400 civilian staff – around a quarter of its staff – over the next four years:

Ed Balls“Job losses of this scale go beyond what both the Police Federation and KPMG have so far estimated the spending review will mean for police officer numbers. But Greater Manchester Police are being put in an impossible position by a government which is imposing 20% in funding.”

“Every police force in the country is now having to work out the implications of the deep and immediate cuts the Home Secretary has demanded. But by front-loading the cuts in the first two years, the Tory-Lib Dem government is making it even more difficult for forces to protect the frontline by finding long-term efficiency savings.”

“People are rightly concerned that cuts of this scale and speed will undermine the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour and take reckless risks with the safety of our communities.”

As David Cameron prepared to make his Mansion House speech, shadow foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said:

Yvette on MSN“David Cameron is playing the spectator not the statesman on the international stage. The reality of the Prime Minister’s foreign policy so far is a shrivelled role for Britain in the world at the expense of British interests.”

“David Cameron chose to stand on the sidelines at the G20 and he has no strategy for global economic co-operation despite the risks to British jobs and growth. His political strategy of focusing on severe and rapid domestic cuts is blinding him to the seriousness of the world economic problems, and the wider foreign policy challenges Britain faces.”

Speaking on the Iain Dale show on LBC this evening, Andy Burnham said that he was concerned about Michael Gove’s reform to the education system, saying that they “unpick the very fabric of our education system”:

Andy Burnham“I am very worried indeed about the direction of travel that Mr Gove and the government are going in.”

“There can be no toleration of poor standards or failure but as a government we took steps to improve things, we did drive up standards in secondary schools, there is more work to do, certainly, but don’t unpick the very fabric of our education system.”

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