Message from Nick Timothy MP:
Inside Whitehall, kept secret from the public, Labour are working on a plan to abolish Suffolk’s county police force and merge it with Norfolk. In answer to my questions (here and here), ministers have admitted, as part of their plans to create a combined mayoralty for the two counties, they want the mayor to take on the powers of both police and crime commissioners.
Given strong support among senior police officers and inside Labour for a reduction in the number of English police forces, a merger of the forces themselves will follow.
As I have written this week in my column for Suffolk News — to be found above — I vehemently oppose this idea. Merging Suffolk and Norfolk forces would seriously their effectiveness and make decision-making and accountability for public safety even more remote from people than it is now.
