Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper on Tuesday accused Theresa May of creating police and crime commissioners “to take the flack for her mess”.
Labour MP Cooper claimed the home secretary was replacing the current police authorities with elected commissioners so there would be someone to blame if services deteriorated due to government cuts to police funding.
“Theresa May is setting police and crime commissioners up because she wants them to take the flack for her mess,” said Cooper.
“But it is communities that will pay the price of the Tories’ decisions to turn their backs on the fight against crime.
“Theresa May and David Cameron need to come clean about the next wave of cuts to crime prevention before the November elections rather than conning the electorate and the new commissioners,” she added.
Voters in England and Wales will on November 15 elect commissioners for each force area outside London. The commissioners will have power over budgets and the hiring and firing of chief constables.
Labour slams May over new crime commissioners
