Crime chief claims of plan to 'silence and discredit' him over funding campaign
The West Midlands Labour Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has claimed there is a plot to 'silence and discredit' him over his campaign against force funding cuts.
David Jamieson is embroiled in a row with Tory Mayor Andy Street, after the region's combined authority (WMCA) signed off on plans that paved the way for the position of PCC to be scrapped by 2020.
He said the move had been rushed and done 'without rigorous consultation'. He also suggested it was politically motivated as a result of his repeated calls for more cash to bolster force coffers.
The PCC's claim has been backed by Birmingham MP and former shadow policing minister Jack Dromey, who said the Government was trying to 'muzzle criticism and descent'.
At a heated meeting last week the WMCA agreed a timetable for the process for combining the roles of Mayor and PCC.
Mr Jamieson said: "Concerns were raised that the Mayor wanted to take over policing without rigorous consultation.
"We now have no timetable for a potential merger of the PCC and Mayoral roles. The Home Office stated that the timetable is five times tighter than the changes that took place in Manchester. I struggle to see how the work can be done in time.
"I wrote to the Mayor and Policing Minister in March setting out the process. It is unfortunate in the extreme that we didn’t receive a formal reply until June.
"If the Mayor had focussed on this issue, he would not be in the position he is now in.
"Some are now saying this is merely a thinly veiled ruse to try and silence and discredit me because of my consistent campaigning against policing cuts."
Combining the roles of Mayor and PCC was a condition set out in the Government's second devolution deal with the West Midlands earlier this year.
Government funding for WMP is down by two per cent over the last year, while the force has lost around 2,000 officers since 2010.
