Theresa May’s announcement on stop and search can be credited to the Equality and Human Rights Commission for forcing the Home Secretary’s hand, as Left Foot Forward noted.
Ironically as May manoeuvred to gain maximum political credit the government were giving the equalities watchdog bad news. The EHRC should prepare for a 10 percent cut in their budget, two percent more than the overall cut to their Whitehall paymasters in the Department for Culture Media and Sport.
The EHRC’s decision to take legal action against two police forces for conducting stop and search in a discriminatory way prompted May to launch a six-week consultation, the first review of the police tactic since Lord Scarman in 1981.
Whether the watchdog will have the resources to mount any further investigations after suffering yet another disproportionate slashing of their grant is an open question. The cut comes on top of a massive 70 percent reduction since 2010.
Another aspect of May’s announcement was the absence of any credit for their coalition partners the Lib Dems who worked on it behind the scenes.
But who would seek to deny her the limelight and risk her terrifying ’death stare’ (see above picture)?
By Lester Holloway
