As soon as Boris Johnson left the Tory conference stage in Birmingham today, Labour’s leader in the London Assembly Len Duvall put out this statement:
“Boris failed to mention that he has cut over 1,700 police officers and 1,800 PCSOs in the past two years. He is closing police stations across London and has lost two London Borough police commanders in the past three weeks. He has run down the Safer Neighbourhood Teams and is now merging borough police forces.
“He claimed that crime has fallen by 12%, in fact between 2008 and 2012 it fell by 5.6%. This decrease is welcome, but Boris needs to be straight with Londoners and get his facts right. We desperately need to protect police numbers as GBH, Rape and muggings have all increased since 2008 in the capital. In addition to cutting the police, Boris is presiding over huge budget cuts to the London Fire Brigade. Up to 30 stations and appliances are at risk, which will hit the front line hard leading to a loss of fire cover for Londoners. The emergency services are not safe in Boris’ hands.
“At City Hall Boris has presided over huge salary increases for his political appointees. Last year one of his advisers got a 55% pay rise to £127,784 whilst all other employees had their pay frozen. This just shows how out of touch he is with ordinary Londoners who are struggling. He thinks he can get away with this kind of behaviour by hiding behind his personality. He is not the cuddly everyman’s politician that some people think he is.”
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