Tony Livesey and guests tackle head-on the issue of crime and proposed police cuts. What are the facts? Could the cuts lead to a spike in crime?
Times are tough and there's a rallying call from politicians that we must share the pain to get the country back on track. But are we really all in this together?
This week, crime and policing: with 20% cuts to police budgets proposed over the next 5 years, could they, as the Police Federation suggest, have a serious impact on public safety?
Tony Livesey and fiery guests take you through the facts and opinions surrounding crime rates and the current state of policing and proposed reforms. What is the truth amidst the rhetoric and just what are the implications for frontline police officers and the jobs they do?
Right-wing journalist and blogger Toby Young is pitted against left-wing New Statesman blogger and active cuts campaigner Laurie Penny, to thrash out opposing opinions over how the cuts and reforms in the police service should kick in.
The Police Federation say the cuts are wrong-headed and unfair, with senior police officer John Giblin going as far as to claim that the government, "hate the police service and want to destroy it in order to rebuild it again, but in their image." The Government has denied that plans to cut the police budget are an attack on the force.
Tony and guests ask how the cuts will kick in. Could they push police pay and conditions back decades? Or are the cuts a necessary tidying-up of a police force that is unsustainable, with Britain's budget deficit?
Could the cuts lead to a new crime wave?
Joining the debate, MPs, frontline police officers and experts to discuss whether the cuts will put the police service at risk.
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- Sun 22 May 2011 09:30大象传媒 Radio 5 Live