Oral Answers to Questions

Marie Rimmer Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

Q11. In the past month both Adam Ellison and Tommy Grace have been fatally stabbed in Prescot in my constituency. This is part of a 20% increase in violent crime in the past year. Since 2009, Merseyside police has lost over 1,700 frontline staff, including over 1,000—more than one in five—police officers. Some £82 million has been cut, with a further £18 million by 2021-22. How will the Prime Minister use the Budget to address the public’s rightful expectation of more police on the street? Merseyside’s budget has not been protected.

[The Prime Minister]

I am sure the sympathies and thoughts of the whole House are with those injured and stabbed. We are concerned about criminal acts of this sort. As I said earlier in other answers, we have been protecting police budgets and we are now actually seeing a higher percentage of police officers on the frontline.