By Kitty Knowles
The shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, came to Brixton today to call for more police officers in Lambeth.
Cooper joined Lambeth leader Lib Peck, London Assembly Member Val Shawcross and Cllr Jack Hopkins, opposite Brixton Tube station to demand 100 additional cops in the borough.
Lambeth has experienced the biggest reduction of any London borough, with police numbers falling by 20 percent since 2010, while other boroughs, such as Hammersmith and Fulham, have faced a lesser reduction of five per cent.
Cllr Peck explained: “Lambeth residents pay just as much for the police, through the Mayor’s portion of the council tax – we are entitled to get our fair share of police. 100 more police officers would mean Lambeth being treated like other London boroughs and will bring us in line with the London average. We think that’s a fair deal.”
Yvette Cooper added, “Lib Peck and her team are absolutely right to highlight the damaging impact of the Government and Mayor of London’s police cuts on people in Lambeth. It’s clear that the cuts are putting the police in an impossible position and threaten to undermine the work that the police and communities are doing to make our streets safer.”
