The standoff follows government plans backed by an unpublished review from former commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe, which proposed cutting territorial forces down to between nine and 18. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley and several chief constables claim merging bodies into eight to 10 entities could release hundreds of millions of pounds for technology and local personnel. However, local leaders including Sadiq Khan and Steve Rotheram contend this approach undermines devolution. Instead, regional mayors are urging ministers to align force boundaries directly with existing mayoral jurisdictions to safeguard neighbourhood oversight.
Key points
Regional mayors warn that creating massive super-forces threatens local accountability an…: Regional mayors warn that creating massive super-forces threatens local accountability and disrupts devolution across England and Wales.
Police chiefs argue that radical force mergers are necessary to combat international crim…: Police chiefs argue that radical force mergers are necessary to combat international criminal networks under severe Treasury constraints.
Regional politicians favour aligning police jurisdictions with existing mayoral boundarie…: Regional politicians favour aligning police jurisdictions with existing mayoral boundaries rather than establishing broad multi-region authorities.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Plans to slash the number of police forces in England and Wales represent a “real threat” to local policing and seriously undermine Andy Burnham’s devolution agenda, leading mayors have said.
Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan police commissioner and Britain’s top officer, called on Friday for the 43 forces of England and Wales to be cut to “eight to 10” super forces.
The changes were backed by the chief constables of other forces, including Greater Manchester police, but there is disagreement within senior policing about how radical the reduction should be.
Several of England’s mayors and police and crime commissioners criticised Rowley’s proposals on Friday, with some expressing anger privately at what they saw as an attempt to bounce the prime minister into the biggest change in policing in a generation.
Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool city region and a close friend of the prime minister, called the proposals “the wolf of centralisation dressed up in sheep’s clothing” that would undermine local accountability.
He added: “The idea that we’d somehow get better policing by swallowing local forces up into a…
Legal activists from the Hind Rajab Foundation are utilizing Dutch universal jurisdiction statutes to target foreign military personnel visiting the country. The filing demands an investigation into actions taken during military offensives in Beit Hanoun, potentially exposing dual-national service members to overseas prosecution. The move marks an escalating push to hold individual soldiers legally accountable in third-party European nations.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party, stating that her party and others have not had a level playing field. In response, the BJP has countered Gandhi's remarks by pointing to the Emergency.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict between Washington and Tehran still have momentum according to mediation partners in the Gulf region. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani confirmed that American leadership continues to show interest in finding a peaceful resolution. This posture remains steady even as internal legislative shifts introduce fresh domestic political complications for the United States administration.