MADAM, The Labour candidate for the West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner election is being a trifle disingenuous in explaining his party's proposed budget cuts. Examination of the published record – Hansard, HMIC Reports, BBC etc – shows that Labour are committed to the same 20 per cent reduction in Police expenditure over the next four years as the Government.

Dr Murphy's claim that that Labour would cut eight percent less is just plain wrong.

Conservative candidate Adrian Blackshaw has publicly committed to protecting front-line policing that accounts for about two thirds of the W Mercia budget. As a businessman he rightly observes that the required savings can be secured by a reduction in back-office and administrative costs by removing duplication and waste endemic, until recently, in much of the public sector. That W Mercia and Warwickshire forces are collaborating to reduce costs is to be welcomed.

It is to be hoped that the West Mercia electorate see that they will be best served by selecting a businessmen as their first commissioner. The opportunities for improving performance of the clutch of criminal justice organisation that also serve us is as great if not greater than improving the Police.Duncan Williams, Hereford

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