Teresa May was today forced to acknowledge that the hundreds of police officers and staff behind the scenes during the various demonstrations on Saturday (march for the Alternative, UK Uncut, Class War...) were just as vital as those out on the streets. Whatever you think of the various actions and the policing policy, the observation is much the same - pretty clear evidence that the simple-minded injunction to "save money by cutting the back office" is just that - simple-minded.
And today, Warwickshire police are reported to be taking uniformed officers off the streets to do the jobs whose holders have been made redundant.
There are two problems (at least) with the cuts programme:
- the separation between front and back office is artificial
- changes of this type might be possible, but to do them properly would require more time than they have been given
