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Smith 'betrayed' police over pay Smith 'betrayed' police over pay
(about 1 hour later)
The home secretary has "betrayed the police service" by refusing to backdate a 2.5% pay rise, the chairman of the Police Federation has said.The home secretary has "betrayed the police service" by refusing to backdate a 2.5% pay rise, the chairman of the Police Federation has said.
Speaking at the federation's annual conference, Jan Berry said Jacqui Smith had made "a monumental mistake". Jan Berry told its annual conference that Jacqui's Smith decision, which affects Wales, England and N Ireland, had been "a monumental mistake".
"Your decision not to honour the pay award was a breach of faith," she said. But Ms Smith said she stood by her decision, adding that it had been taken "only after a lot of thought".
But Ms Smith said she stood by her decision, adding: "Setting out on the road to the right to strike will only lead to a dead end." On Tuesday, federation members voted to lobby for the right to strike.
Ms Berry praised the home secretary for having the courage to face the Bournemouth conference, but said: "Your decision not to honour the pay award was a breach of faith.Ms Berry praised the home secretary for having the courage to face the Bournemouth conference, but said: "Your decision not to honour the pay award was a breach of faith.
"It was a monumental mistake, and I don't say this lightly when I say you betrayed the police service.""It was a monumental mistake, and I don't say this lightly when I say you betrayed the police service."
Ms Smith sat stony-faced throughout Ms Berry's speech before addressing the 1,000 delegates herself. Ms Smith later addressed the 1,000 delegates herself.
"I know you strongly disagree with the decision," she said "but it was one that I took only after a lot of thought, after considering the full facts of the case, the need to keep mortgages and the cost of living under control - and that includes your mortgages and your families' cost of living as well. "I know you strongly disagree with the decision," she said, "but it was one that I took only after a lot of thought, after considering the full facts of the case, the need to keep mortgages and the cost of living under control - and that includes your mortgages and your families' cost of living as well.
"And there was another crucial factor at play: affordability. And for that, read police officer numbers.""And there was another crucial factor at play: affordability. And for that, read police officer numbers."
Last year, Ms Smith decided not to backdate to September a 2.5% pay rise for police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Ms Smith added: "Setting out on the road to the right to strike will only lead to a dead end."
The police say this means their rise, only paid from December 2007, in reality amounts to 1.9%. Review call
Last year, she decided not to backdate to September a 2.5% pay rise for police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The inept management of modernisation is nothing short of a scandal Jan BerryPolice Federation chairman
The police say this means their rise, only paid from December 2007, in reality amounts to 1.9%. Officers in Scotland, however, received the backdated rise.
On Tuesday, police officers voted by a large majority to lobby the government for the right to take strike action over the decision.On Tuesday, police officers voted by a large majority to lobby the government for the right to take strike action over the decision.
Ms Berry called for an independent review of policing and vowed that the federation's members would abide by its recommendations.
She said such a review was vital to come up with "a clear vision for 20th Century policing".
"The inept management of modernisation is nothing short of a scandal," Ms Berry said.
She also said all 16,000 police community support officers in England and Wales should be given the training to convert them into full-fledged officers.
This, she said, would give the public what they want - "the bobby on the beat".
Ms Berry said the need to achieve targets and gather data had left the police "lost between statistics and reality".
But she said the other extreme - where officers were only called to deal with conflict and serious incident - would lead to the police becoming "a paramilitary force".
The chairman was not entirely critical of the government. She told the conference she believed the police force was "more professional now than ever before".