London MPs open letter over Boris police cuts

The more Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson tries to associate himself with calls for more police officers the greater the focus will be on the decisions he has taken which have seen deep cuts to frontline policing in London.

One of Boris Johnson’s first acts as Mayor of London was to announce plans to cut 455 police officers. This was followed by cuts to 300 experienced sergeants from London’s local neighbourhood police teams. By 2015 the police inspectorate has said there will be nearly 1900 fewer police officers in the capital.

The cuts which Boris Johnson has made to the Metropolitan Police are far from a joke – they threaten to undermine the vital work of police and communities to make our streets and homes safer.

For the Mayor to try and present himself as a supporter of more frontline policing flies in the face of the facts on London’s streets.

Yours sincerely,

Harriet Harman MP for Camberwell and Peckham and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
Sadiq Khan MP for Tooting and Shadow Lord Chancellor, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Diane Abbott MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Rushanara Ali MP for Bethnal Green and Bow
Karen Buck MP for Westminster North
Jim Dowd MP for Lewisham West and Penge
Clive Efford MP for Eltham
Mike Gapes MP for Ilford South
Meg Hillier MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch
Tessa Jowell MP for Dulwich and West Norwood
Alan Keen for Feltham and Heston
Andy Love MP for Edmonton
Siobhain McDonagh MP for Mitcham and Morden
Stephen Pound MP for Ealing North
Joan Ruddock MP for Lewisham Deptford
Virendra Sharma MP for Ealing Southall
Andy Slaughter MP for Hammersmith and Fulham
Chuka Umunna MP for Streatham
Gareth Thomas MP for Harrow West
Stephen Timms MP for East Ham
Malcolm Wicks MP for Croydon North
Len Duvall AM for Greenwich and Lewisham, Leader of Labour Assembly Group and Chair of London Labour Party
Val Shawcross AM for Lambeth and Southwark
Navin Shah AM for Brent and Harrow
John Biggs AM for City and East
Joanne McCartney AM for Enfield and Haringey
Jennette Arnold AM, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Islington
Murad Qureshi AM
Nicky Gavron AM
Cllr Julian Bell, Leader of Ealing Council