YP Comment: Crime against public purse? Police tsar's mistaken priorities

Though Mrs Mulligan is right to highlight those counterparts who do have a deputy, many do not and the hard evidence is that she has not needed an understudy since her election in 2012.

And the prosecution case does not end here. The Tory politician certainly didn’t make it sufficiently clear during her successful re-election campaign in May that she intended to create this £50,000-a-year post at a time when North Yorkshire has a noteworthy shortage of frontline officers.

Let it also be remembered that Mrs Mulligan’s force is also served by a chief constable, Dave Jones, who was entrusted with the guardianship of the embattled South Yorkshire force earlier this summer. He’s hardly a novice.

From the law-abiding public’s perspective, this appointment once again smacks of public sector empire-building, despite Mrs Mulligan choosing to advertise the role rather than simply selecting a deputy and presenting the choice as a fait accompli.

It’s also slightly disingenuous for Mrs Mulligan’s spokesman to say that “Julia is extremely committed to public engagement, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day for her to do everything she wants to do in that regard”.

Her constituents will beg to differ. They will be extremely annoyed if this new role comes at the expense of the police’s engagement with the public, particularly in those areas where beat officers and traffic patrols are now non-existent because of cuts. If Mrs Mulligan is committed to listening to the people, she will think again.

Railways should be a results business

IF there is one policy where Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing rhetoric is likely to strike a chord with middle class families, it is the issue of rail fares – and the fact that ticket prices have risen twice as fast as wages in the past six years.

Though Mr Corbyn’s renewed call for the railways to be renationalised will be applauded by some sections of society, his cause is undermined by his decision to share a platform with union leaders who want to take industrial relations back in time.

However the plain fact of the matter is travellers – and long-suffering rush-hour commuters in particular – are not seeing the quality of services increase in line with fares.

And while next year’s 1.9 per cent rise is in line with inflation, it is another kick in the teeth for all those whose lives have been made a misery by the shambles on the Southern franchise or all those commuters in Yorkshire who can’t even get a seat because rush-hour trains are so overcrowded.

Though the Government will point, in its defence, to record passenger numbers and unprecedented levels of investment in the rail infrastructure, it still allows too many train operating companies to take travellers for a ride.

Perhaps the time has come for a radical overhaul of the whole ticketing structure so that the actual reliability and punctuality of franchises over the previous 12 months is also used to determine whether fares go up – or down. Others are in the results business. Why not train firms? Such a performance-related formula might just prompt more executives in the rail industry to remember that they’re supposed to be providing a public service.

Dementia duty: Hidden disease takes it toll

TO BRITAIN’S credit, the country is now far more accepting, and understanding, of people who suffer mental health issues thanks, in no small part, to a more enlightened political debate and belated recognition that too many victims have suffered in silence for too long.

However progress does remain sporadic, not least when it comes to the ability of public bodies and the like to look after dementia sufferers with respect, dignity and patience. Sadly this can’t be taken for granted judging by the ‘postcode lottery’ revealed by the Department of Health’s own research.

Yet, while the Government has, for once, admitted its shortcomings, this is not a job for Ministers alone. Attitudes will only change if more people follow the fine example of Oscar-nominated actress Carey Mulligan and train to be dementia friends so they know how to support those struck down with this hidden – and still incurable – condition. It is the least that families can do, given that everyone will know a grandparent, relative or friend, afflicted by this cruellest of diseases.