UK police officers leaving profession in record numbers amid protests
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Home Office data reveals that over 5,000 police officers, or 3.4% of the workforce, voluntarily left the service—a record high and more than double the number from four years ago.
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Police officers from a cordon at New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, in central London on March 14, 2021. (AFP)
Two months after anti-immigrant protests captured global attention, new data show UK police officers are leaving the force in record numbers.
“The Labour Party's plans to increase police presence are set to fail as record numbers of officers are quitting,” reported The Daily Telegraph, raising doubts about Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ability to deliver on a key party promise.
Home Office data revealed that over 5,000 police officers, or 3.4% of the workforce, voluntarily left the service—a record high and more than double the number from four years ago.
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Starmer’s pledge to expand policing comes amid rising crime rates, including a 30% surge in shoplifting over the past year, following trends seen after the Covid-19 lockdowns. In late July and early August, anti-immigration demonstrations shook the UK, with rioters even setting fire to a hotel suspected of housing migrants.
Since 2010, the UK has implemented stringent austerity measures, which many believe have caused a sharp decline in living standards. One study suggested that British citizens have lost six months in life expectancy due to cuts in social spending.
“The UK is suffering the worst decline in living standards of any G7 country,” the British Trades Union Congress recently stated.
UK economy stalls, setting back new govern
The United Kingdom's economy stalled again in July, official data published last month revealed, setting back the newly-elected Labour government that is prioritizing growth expansion.
The country's gross domestic product (GDP) indicated zero growth compared to June, when output was also flattened, according to a statement by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Analysts anticipated a slight boost in growth for July, and previous data depicted the British economy grew at a slightly slower rate in the second quarter compared with the first.
"I am under no illusion about the scale of the challenge we face and I will be honest with the British people that change will not happen overnight," Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said concerning Wednesday's data.
"Two quarters of positive economic growth does not make up for fourteen years of stagnation," she stated, adding, "That is why we are taking the long-term decisions now to fix the foundations of our economy."
UK debt raises 'big red flag' of unsustainability
The UK will need to resort to higher tax rates or reduce government spending to combat the risk of the national debt becoming unsustainable, a House of Lords committee has lately warned.
The peers published a report suggesting essential tough decisions and new policies for public finances to decrease debt, which currently stands at just under 100% of the annual national income.
“This report highlights a grim reality: our national debt risks developing on an unsustainable path. This has not received the attention it deserves – partly because of a flawed debt rule, created by the last government, and adopted by the new government in a similar form,” chair of the House of Lords economic affairs committee, Lord Bridges, warned.
Bridges emphasized that peers were raising a "big red flag" on the crucial reduction of Britain's national debt amid pressures for the government to increase its spending on defense, the net zero transition, and care expenses for the aging population.
