Policing in the 21st Century

Emily Thornberry Excerpts

Monday 26th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

We are not talking about party political interference in policing. The picture the hon. Gentleman has painted does not accurately portray what I was saying earlier about directly elected commissioners. The directly elected commissioners will be called police and crime commissioners and they will have a wider role than simply looking at what is happening in relation to their police force; they will be looking at crime more generally and working with community safety partners. We are, however, absolutely clear that the operational independence of the police will remain.

[Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)]

As I am the final questioner, may I take the opportunity to ask two central questions? First, how much will these initiatives cost and, secondly, by how much will they cut crime?

[Mrs May]

As I said in response to a number of earlier questions, we will publish figures on cost and the business case for the national crime agency in due course—and I am sorry the hon. Lady had to wait such a long time to ask that question.