Cuts simply destroying the police

Other police have taken several hours to get on patrol, because of bus breakdowns. What on earth is happening to this country?

I asked Prime Minister, David Cameron what the police should do when patrolling by public transport?

If they are waiting at the bus stop having arrested someone, do they go upstairs or downstairs on the bus?

The reality is that they will not arrest at all

Even if they do arrest, we now a G4S caravan replacing the police cells providing weekend night time cover in Bassetlaw.

Five years ago, if you had suggested this, I would have said that you could not make this up.

Then Mr Cameron claimed in Parliament that crime in Bassetlaw has gone down by 27 per cent.

But Nottinghamshire’s Police Commissioner and his top officers have briefed me that it has gone up.

The truth is that crime has risen by two per cent since last April compared to the same period the previous year.

Violent crime that resulted in an injury has gone up 39 per cent, burglary 17 per cent, robbery 27 per cent and theft and handling by 15 per cent.

David Cameron’s complacent bragging about Bassetlaw crime ‘coming down’ needs to be stood against the reality and effect of the police cells closures and the police being forced onto public transport buses.

And it might get worse. The Chancellor has announced a further £25 billion cuts from 2016, with policing included on his hit list.

Their whole vision of the police is one whereby the policing is increasingly done by unpaid volunteers, just as their model of a future army is one top heavy with reserve volunteers.

Even the prison service is being privatised along with probation.

I am very concerned that the Worksop Magistrates Court is for the chop this year, resulting in more wasted police time and fewer convictions.

For hundreds of years we have had local justice and local policing.

All of this is under threat.

Most people would never have imagined a situation where police are patrolling by using our local buses, yet we now have this.

I would like you to report every time you see a police officer waiting at a bus stop, and every time that you meet the police on a bus, so that we can present this as evidence in Parliament.

Do not blame them. I have no doubt that they are as angry as me and feel demoralised by this treatment.

The new system of course presumes that there is a bus available and that it will turn up.

To make matters even more ironic, I have heard that evening services after 6.30pm on the numbers 21 and 25 bus services from Worksop to Doncaster are under threat and may be withdrawn.

I understand that this is because the County Council are being forced by the Government to make their own drastic cuts in their budgets, and Stagecoach have said that they will probably be unable to continue running the route without this support.

My main concern is that, if this change goes ahead, residents in Harworth and Bircotes could be left without any bus connections after 6.30pm.

If this is likely to affect you or anyone that you know, then please get in touch with me on 01909 506200 or email 
[email protected] as a matter of urgency.