New Home Secretary must earn support of the police service

“In recent years, the police service has done everything asked of them to meet an increasing demand with depleting resources.

“The safety of the public is the first duty of government. The police are here to help achieve this, but are at a point of saturation.

“The new Home Secretary, Ms Amber Rudd, must take the time to understand policing, listen to us as the voice of our 122,000 members and work with us to make positive change - change to ensure we can continue to deliver the service the public expect and change that doesn’t cause further detriment to the service or officers. The government has a duty to the police service, the same way the police service has a duty to the public.

“It is fitting that one of Ms Rudd's first engagements will be to join us in recognising the incredible efforts of 69 of our officers at our annual Police Bravery Awards tomorrow night. These tremendous feats of bravery are the tip of the iceberg for the remarkable hard work and talent of officers across England and Wales, a work ethic and performance that makes them the envy of the world over.

“It is not just important, it is absolutely imperative that Ms Rudd continues to recognise the talent that exists and provides a suitable platform to harbour and develop this for the good of the nation.”