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[Fedster + 1,307]

Lord Paddick says government appears, in the eyes of operational officers, to be treating the police service with contempt.

Personnel  in hazmat suits walk away after securing a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury (PA)

A former deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has urged ministers to reverse their "anti-police agenda" following the attempted murder of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

Liberal Democrat Lord Paddick praised the response of the police and emergency services in dealing with the use of a nerve agent in the attack.

But he criticised the government's treatment of the police, saying: "The government appear, in the eyes of operational police officers, to be treating the police service with contempt - freezing their salaries, cutting their pensions and reducing police budgets in real terms."

He challenged Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford to tell the Lords: "When is the Government going to reverse its anti-police agenda."

Lady Williams, who had repeated the Home Secretary's statement on the incident, also paid tribute to the police and emergency services.

She said ministers had the "highest regard" for the police and defended the police budget for this year, saying it gave the service sufficient officers to do the job.

Labour spokesman Lord Kennedy of Southwark said: "This crime is an outrageous act committed on British soil."

Acknowledging the need to avoid "unhelpful speculation", Lord Kennedy said a thorough investigation was the only way to get to the truth and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Tory Lord Trimble, a former Ulster Unionist leader, said the initial response to the previous murder of Alexander Litvinenko had been "quite inadequate", leading some to believe Britain was seen by the perpetrators to be a "soft touch".

He said: "We will have to be even more robust in our response this time than might have been the case if we hadn't had that not-so-good example before us."

Lady Williams said investigations into the Salisbury attack were ongoing and it was not appropriate to link it to other cases, although lessons were always learned.

Earlier at question time, Tory former justice minister Lord Faulks, who has previously demanded a public register of foreign companies that own property in the UK to crack down on corruption, raised concerns around the "torrent of dirty money from Russia" coming into the country.

He added: "Beyond that, BuzzFeed estimate up to 14 suspected murders involving Russia and now we have the incident of Sergei Skripal. These represent outrageous violations of the rule of law by Russia."

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[David + 4,981]

It's about time. Can't be denied I've been advocating this for some years.

[Zulu 22 + 4,630]

We have enough officers to do the job!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Where on earth has this woman been for the last 5 years. The thing that we do have too many of is members of the House of Lords and Parliament.

Never had any respect for Paddick but at least he has spoken up.

[Sceptre + 2,704]

2 hours ago, Fedster said:

Earlier at question time, Tory former justice minister Lord Faulks, who has previously demanded a public register of foreign companies that own property in the UK to crack down on corruption, raised concerns around the "torrent of dirty money from Russia" coming into the country.

He added: "Beyond that, BuzzFeed estimate up to 14 suspected murders involving Russia and now we have the incident of Sergei Skripal. These represent outrageous violations of the rule of law by Russia."

Of all the sources he could quote... 

[IrateShrike + 1,850]

8 hours ago, Sceptre said:

Of all the sources he could quote... 

WT... must be a bad taste joke, surely.

[Policey_Man + 765]

On ‎09‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 16:49, Fedster said:

She said ministers had the "highest regard" for the police and defended the police budget for this year, saying it gave the service sufficient officers to do the job.

Oh that's funny, that made me laugh!  I wish these people had even the slightest hint of a clue about what was really going on on the front line.

I'm glad someone is speaking up for the police, but I can't imagine what a single Lib Dem in the Lords is going to achieve, sadly.