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Public would pay more to boost police numbers, says Burnham

Labour has promised to recruit 10,000 more police to work on community beats if it wins the election.

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Police cuts must be halted in the wake of the Manchester bombing, Andy Burnham has said.

The Greater Manchester metro mayor called for a review of police funding following the June 8 General Election, suggesting that the public would be prepared to pay more to bolster numbers.

Speaking to The Times, the Labour ex-minister also revealed that there had been a 30% increase in hate crimes in the city since the suicide bomb attack.

And he repeated his call for a fundamental rethink of the Government’s Prevent programme against radicalisation, arguing that the scheme was “toxic” to many Muslims because they felt their community was being singled out for suspicion.

Labour has promised to recruit 10,000 more police to work on community beats if it wins the election.

Mr Burnham said: “We cannot look at a falling tide of police funding at a time when there is not just the terrorist threat but also cyberfraud and hate crime. It has to stop.

“The feeling in Greater Manchester now is that police visibility has noticeably dipped. We have seen a 20% cut in police funding since 2010 and lost 2,000 officers. We need at least half of that back, probably more.”

He added: “Neighbourhood policing is the building block of the police service but it’s gone backwards in recent times. We have to have a review now of police funding.

“It’s time for honesty about that. If you said to the public ‘Pay a little bit more for police and the NHS’, they would accept that. If we don’t, we are less safe.”

Following Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s controversial speech drawing links between Britain’s involvement in military interventions overseas and terrorism at home, Mr Burnham suggested that the roots of extremism may instead be found in individuals’ personal issues, including mental health problems.

“Maybe some young people from some of our communities don’t feel part of society but that is a problem for them. This is a welcoming place,” said Mr Burnham.

“I think it’s people who, for whatever reason, enter a state of mind that is way out of the mainstream – be that because of a medical diagnosis or social issues.

“These are individuals on the extremes. They may have mental health problems; don’t think they are representative of a lot of people.”

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