“Merseyside Deserves More Police, Not Politicians,” says Lib Dem Leader

Liverpool Liberal Democrats celebrate successful campaign to scrap Police and Crime Commissioners 

Cllr Carl Cashman and the Liverpool Liberal Democrats have welcomed the Labour Government’s plan to scrap Police and Crime Commissioners, calling it “a win for common sense and a win for Merseyside.”

Local Lib Dem Leader Cllr Carl Cashman said the decision was well overdue after it was clear the Conservatives’ PCC experiment had failed. He said that the current Merseyside PCC, whose office costs over £1.6 million a year, has done nothing while communities across Merseyside face rising crime.

Under Labour, Merseyside Police has been left with a £31 million black hole, raising fears of cuts to the neighborhood policing that residents rely on.

Cllr Cashman said: “Residents tell us the same story everywhere we go. Anti-social behaviour, reckless e-bikes, thefts are on the rise - and too often nothing happens when it’s reported. Yet instead of more officers on our streets, the taxpayers have been subsidising an expensive Labour politician pushing paper.”

“The PCC system has failed, scrapping it means we can put that money where it should have been all along: back into front-line policing. Merseyside needs bobbies on the beat, not another layer of wasteful bureaucracy.”