Jury still out on police mergers

IRRESPECTIVE of the merit – or otherwise – of merging police forces and axing crime commissioners, the ideas put forward yesterday by Labour’s Treasury spokesman Chris Leslie, it is an admission that the size of the state needs to shrink.

IRRESPECTIVE of the merit – or otherwise – of merging police forces and axing crime commissioners, the ideas put forward yesterday by Labour’s Treasury spokesman Chris Leslie, it is an admission that the size of the state needs to shrink.

Mr Leslie, who cut his political teeth as the MP for Shipley between 1997 and 2005, does at least have some experience in this sphere – he headed up Civil Service policy and then ran the New Local Government Network think-tank before returning to Parliament.

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However the greater test lies ahead and whether Mr Leslie – and the likes of Ed Miliband – have the resolve to persist with an agenda that has the potential to alienate law-abiding residents, including Labour’s own supporters.

After all, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury was a prominent member of Tony Blair’s government when it was forced into a humiliating retreat over plans, put forward by John Reid, to merge police forces and create a single constabulary for Yorkshire.

Even though this region’s four forces were already operating on a collaborative basis – they have sensibly taken the view that criminals are no respecters of artificial boundaries – this merger plan was a step too far for those opponents who contended that local policing needed to take precedence at all costs.

However, Mr Leslie’s opposition to crime commissioners is slightly more perplexing from a philosophical standpoint. After all, he was part of the Blair administration that paved the way for directly-elected mayors in Doncaster and elsewhere, a precursor to the crime commissioners that became a central plank of David Cameron’s manifesto four years ago.

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Even though he is distancing himself from this concept, it is also interesting that this speech came 24 hours after Mark Burns-Williamson, the Labour commissioner for West Yorkshire, was criticised for appointing a party colleague as his £50,000 a year deputy.

Because Labour’s enthusiasm for commissioners locally is at odds with the approach now favoured by Mr Leslie, many will still question the party’s ability to deliver a leaner police bureaucracy. The shadow Minister has made his case, but the solution to this particular political mystery will ultimately rest with his party and the public at large.

The best of British

Local farm produce is invaluable

THAT public confidence in farm produce has not been adversely affected by the horsemeat scandal is testament to the resilience of the agricultural industry – and the success of various ‘Buy British’ campaigns that have had a transformative effect in raising awareness about the value of locally-sourced food.

It is also a vindication of the strict safeguards introduced in the wake of previous scandals. The reason is simple: people will buy clearly labelled British produce because they know that UK farmers conform to the strictest welfare standards in the world.

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This is reflected by last weekend’s announcement that ready meals are to be branded with a Red Tractor logo for the first time to reassure consumers when the meat they contain is from a UK farm. This would have been unthinkable five years ago and shows how public opinion can be a force for good.

That said, this trust needs to be maintained – a point made by the National Farmers’ Union – and the major supermarkets still need to be challenged at every opportunity. If the NFU-commissioned survey is to be believed, the public want the large stores to stock even more local produce, certainly in more prominent positions, and concern remains about the extent to which dairy farmers are being short-changed by some major retailers.

As they move forward, perhaps the farming fraternity should take their lead from Michael Heseltine who famously promised to intervene “morning, noon and night” to prop up ailing industries. Despite recent progress, they still need to work round the clock to remind people that British meat will always be superior to cheap imports.

A barnstormer

Should farm buildings be restored?

WHEN the Government suggested a relaxation of the planning rules governing the conversion of derelict barns into homes in iconic national parks like the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, it was driven by the best of intentions.

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Ministers thought this measure would be popular and help to make rural services more viable and so on. However they had not counted upon the backlash from people who feared that the conversion of these buildings would become irrevocable blots on the landscape.

In this regard, it is right that national park authorities should decide each application on merit – the Government should know by now that a “one-size-fits-all” planning policy is not always in the best interests of the country.

Yet credence should also be given to the remarks of Princess Anne, who suggested that small-scale developments in villages would be preferable to the construction of new towns from scratch because key amenities, like schools, were already in place and could handle modest increases in population.

Her Royal Highness is right. Change can be a force for good, but these matters should be decided, wherever possible, at a local level rather than by a Whitehall planning blueprint.

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