Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to comments by Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe at the Home Affairs Select Committee, said:

“Labour has warned the Government that cuts to the police on the scale planned would put the public at risk. Today, the most senior police officer in the land has backed that assessment and revealed the serious consequences if the Government goes ahead.

“With violent crime and youth gangs on the rise across London, now is not the time to withdraw 5,000 officers from the streets of the capital. But that is the alarming prospect arising from George Osborne’s cuts to public spending.

“We are now just two weeks away from a Spending Review that could have devastating consequences for policing and community safety in London and across the country. The Government does not have a mandate to make such drastic cuts to frontline policing.  

“With the botched decisions around the policing funding formula, the Government is losing the trust and confidence of the Police. If Ministers refuse to listen, communities will pay a very high price.”