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Put police on patrol, says Brown | |
(40 minutes later) | |
Gordon Brown is to tell police forces to put more officers on the beat in an effort to increase the public's confidence in law and order. | |
The prime minister will say it is not "acceptable" to miss the government target of having neighbourhood PCs on patrol for at least 80% of the time. | |
Mr Brown will also tell councils and police forces not to cut budgets for frontline law enforcement. | |
In a speech, he will dispute the Tories' claim that Britain is "broken". | |
The prime minister's comments come as the main political parties step up their campaigning ahead of the general election, which is expected to be held on 6 May. | |
'No reason' | |
The government says Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) should spend at least 80% of their time on the beat, respond to non-emergency inquiries within 24 hours and hold monthly beat meetings. | |
In a speech in Reading, Mr Brown will say: "At the pre-Budget report, we made the commitment to protect central government funding for frontline policing - because I know how important our police are to people, and so there will be no reason based on central government funding why police or PCSO numbers should fall. | |
"But police funding in this country has always and rightly been part national, part local. | |
"So my challenge to local authorities and police authorities around the country is to match our commitment to protecting front line policing - or else explain to their communities why they are not prepared to do so." | "So my challenge to local authorities and police authorities around the country is to match our commitment to protecting front line policing - or else explain to their communities why they are not prepared to do so." |
Mr Brown will add: "You know, I love this country - and one of the reasons I'm so proud to serve it is because our community spirit has so often defined what it means to be British. | |
"And I greatly resent those who seek to talk down what has been achieved in our communities. So we never accept the simplistic and defeatist argument that our communities are 'broken'." | |
Class sizes | |
In his speech to the Conservatives' spring conference on Sunday, party leader David Cameron said: "Some people say to me that I'm wrong to talk about the broken society, but I say when you've got the highest rate of family breakdown in Europe, when you've got one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy, when there are a million violent crimes committed every year, when there are 100 knife crimes committed every day, when a seven years old child starves to death in Birmingham, our second biggest city, and no one does anything about it, which bit of broken society don't these people understand?" | |
Speaking to head teachers on Monday, shadow schools' secretary Michael Gove will say a Tory government would, within days of taking office, introduce legislation to give schools greater freedom over the curriculum, staff and discipline. | |
Meanwhile, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg will stress the importance of early years education in the home and pledge £2.5bn to help cut class sizes. | |
In a speech to the Salvation Army in London, he will call on all parents to provide the support their children need to thrive. | |