I am not sure which scenario i am most terrified of. The prospect of having Katie Price in control of the budget and strategic operations of one of the south’s Police Forces or of former Deputy PM John Prescott being in charge of the same responsibilities in the North.
Although he has refused to comment publically about his intentions or lack thereof, there is rarely smoke without fire with old ‘two jabs’.
Since the phone hacking scandal broke last year, police and the press have been watched very closely and Prescott has been quite vocal on the subject, stating that the Police need to be subjected to new scrutiny. He has also stated that he is keen for it to be established whether or not the Police had failed to carry out their responsibilities in regard of investigations linked to the scandal and for admissions to be made where appropriate.
It could be argued that, should Prescott be elected as the Commissioner for his home force of Humberside, he would become the regional equivalent of our much maligned Home Secretary Teresa May. He would, alongside the Chief Constable who he would help to elect, control a £1.4bn budget, some 2000 officers, and have some degree of control over budgets and Policing priorities.
Sceptics of anything involving politicians and cash will no doubt have their fears compounded by the recent revelations that those in government have recently failed, yet again, to come good on their promises to the Police and reneged on Scameron’s assurances that Police would have the costs of controlling the rioters in London and elsewhere in the UK covered entirely from Government coffers.
The Met have now been left to foot a bill of £123m for their expenditure and riot liability costs (compensation for those who lost homes, businesses and belongings due to the mass disorder) during the summer period of unrest as the Treasury have reduced the level of subsidy from 100% to just 85%.
Unfortunately, this bombshell comes as the Met face the onerous financial prospect of Policing the biggest sports day to be held in the UK for many years.
I am not sure whether i should be wishing good luck to JP, Katie Price or the population of a nation soon to be ruined by a combination of all three!