Prescott attacks call to privatise police as he fights for top job

Lord Prescott is to campaign against plans to use private security firms in policing – describing it as a “grave threat to our traditional police service.”

The former Deputy Prime Minister – who is competing for the Labour nomination for Humberside Police’s first elected commissioner – said moves to bring in security firms “needed to be nipped in bud now.”

West Midlands and Surrey Police are asking firms to bid for contracts worth £1.5bn over seven years to run some services currently carried out by officers, including detaining suspects and incident response.

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Simon Reed, vice-chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said it was an “extremely dangerous road to take” which would have “catastrophic consequences for the high level of service the public rightly expect and currently receive”.

Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair said the plans offered a chance to modernise policing by outsourcing routine jobs.

He said it would allow skilled staff – like murder inquiry teams – to be hired for the rare instances they were needed without having to “permanently retain a group of very expensive staff.”

The Home Office said only police officers would have the power of arrest and they would continue to patrol the streets, respond to 999 calls and lead investigations.

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Meanwhile an East Riding councillor has become the first Conservative to publicly declare an intention to stand for the commissioner’s role.

Matthew Grove floated the idea of privatising Humberside Police’s underwater search section, adding: “The idea that privatisation is some kind of evil act just shows the pre-conceived bias some politicians have.

“What could possibly be wrong with privatising the diving section?”