The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Ed Davey, has accused Theresa May of “bashing the police” as he sought to paint his party as the natural defenders of law and order.
As Lib Dem members gather for their spring conference in Southport, Davey will use a speech on Saturday to step up the party’s attacks on the government over police cuts.
“It should be obvious that a party that is a defender of freedom should be the party of the police, because they protect our freedoms,” he told the Guardian.
He suggested cuts to police numbers under the Tories, together with the government’s Brexit stance, had alienated “soft Conservative” voters, who may now find a home with the Lib Dems.
“I’m extraordinarily worried about what’s happening to our police, both in my constituency and elsewhere. And I’ve long felt that Lib Dem values are more in tune with the police than many people think,” he said. “You have no civil liberties, or they are likely to be significantly reduced, if you don’t have good law and order.
“Mrs May has really bashed the police; she has gone out and picked fights with them, calling them ‘scaremongering’ over police cuts, when actually they were spot on and dead right. That’s not good, when police pay was frozen for such a long time, pensions were cut, officers were lost.
Source:
theguardian
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