Having a 'Respect for Shopworkers'
week event? Invite your local MP to attend!
An important part of our Freedom From Fear Campaign is raising
public awareness. Setting up a stall in or near your store is an
excellent way of engaging the public in our campaign.
We encourage members to get their local Labour MPs involved in
their Usdaw event during Respect for Shopworkers Week. Labour MPs'
support is very helpful because they can generate media interest
and encourage local police and councils to take action.
Once your store manager has agreed to a stall during Respect
Week, you can invite your Labour MP:
Write to them at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.
Or telephone them on 020 7219 3000.
To find out who your MP is, please phone 0207 219 4272 and give
them your store’s postcode,
or go online at: findyourMP.parliament.uk
This year's Respect for Shopworkers' week is focusing on
the Police cuts, and the impact this will have to keeping people
safe at work. We are getting a petition to take to the Tory / Lib
Dem government to demand they protect shopworkers from violence and
abuse by stopping their planned cuts to police.
The Government is taking an irresponsible gamble with policing
and public safety because it is cutting too far too fast. Usdaw
wants the Government to reopen the review into police spending
urgently. The speed and scale of the cuts are putting police forces
in an impossible position and we fear that the current downward
trend in crime will be reversed.
Background to Government Cuts
- 20% cuts in central government funding to the police, with the
steepest cuts in the first two years.
- Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) have
confirmed that over 16,000 police officers are to be cut so
far.
- More than 16,000 staff and 1,800 PCSOs (Police Community
Support Officers) are also being cut.
- HMIC have proved that the frontline is being hit as a result of
these cuts.
- By March next year 2,500 frontline police will have been
lost.
- More than 2,000 of the most experienced officers are being
forcibly retired because the Government is cutting too far and too
fast.
These cuts go way beyond what experts believe can be achieved
through efficiency savings and better procurement. The report from
(HMIC), Valuing the Police: policing in an age of
austerity published in July 2010, said that a "re-design" of
the police system could "at best... save 12% of central government
funding, while maintaining police availability". Front-loaded cuts
of 20% go significantly beyond that.
Labour’s Position
Labour has a clear plan to find savings of around 12% over the
course of this Parliament, which (HMIC) said could be achieved
without impacting on the frontline. 20% is too far, too fast. When
Labour left office there were record numbers of police on the
street, over 16,500 more than in 1997 in addition to over 16,000
new PCSOs.
Helped by the record number of police officers, crime fell by 43
per cent under Labour and the chance of being a victim of crime was
at a thirty year low.
Once your store manager has agreed to a stall during Respect
Week, you can invite your Labour MP:
Write to them at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.
Or telephone them on 020 7219 3000.
To find out who your MP is, please phone 0207 219 4272 and give
them your store’s postcode,
or go online at: findyourMP.parliament.uk