Susan Hall AM, Crime Spokeswoman for the City Hall Conservatives, has called on the Home Secretary to intervene after it was announced that the Metropolitan Police Service faces losing up to 1,700 officers, PCSOs, and staff.
The cuts, caused by a £260 million funding shortfall in the Mayor of London’s 2025-26 Annual Budget, have sparked fears over public safety.
Hall accused Mayor Sadiq Khan of breaking his manifesto promises on police recruitment and crime prevention. “It is absolutely clear that our capital simply cannot afford to lose a single police officer at a time when crime is so high,” she wrote in a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
The proposed cuts would see the scrapping of the Royal Parks Police, an end to officers attending schools, and reductions in forensic services, historic crime teams, mounted police, and even dog units.
“Khan needs to stop faffing around with vanity projects and intervene before Londoners are forced to endure the loss of 1700 officers,” Hall said.
“The Conservatives had a clear plan to prevent these losses but Labour, Lib Dems, and the Greens voted against it: so now they must walk the walk and find this money before it is too late.”
Hall highlighted the spike of crime in London in the letter. “Gun crime is up by 34.3%, business robbery has increased by 72.5%, and knife crime reached its highest-ever recorded level last year.” She warned that police are already struggling, with a positive outcome rate of just 7.2% for the past year.
She also accused the Mayor of contradicting Labour’s manifesto pledge to “take back the streets” and his promise to recruit 1,300 more police officers. Urging the Home Secretary to act, she wrote, “Step in and intervene to prevent these cuts to frontline services where the Mayor has failed.”
The City Hall Conservatives have pledged to keep fighting against the cuts and pushing for proper police funding to prioritise Londoner’s safety.
