Conservative Party manifesto majors on policing and crime but ignores other emergency services

Building on an announcement earlier this week where the Policing Minister pledged to recruit an additional 8,000 police officers should the Conservative Party be re-elected, the Conservative Party manifesto provides more detail on policing and tackling crime but leaves a void about plans for the rest of the emergency services.

The manifesto is called Clear Plan. Bold Action. Secure Future. It sets out ‘a plan for safer streets and justice for victims of crime.’ This includes cutting down on anti-social behaviour in town centres by rolling out funding for hotspot policing in every force in England and Wales. The Policing Minister told Kay Burley in his Sky News interview earlier this week that a Conservative government would ‘give officers new power and tools to catch criminals.’ He cited facial recognition and new powers to seize knives and track down stolen property.

To restore trust in policing, the manifesto says the Conservatives will ‘legislate to ensure officers are appropriately vetted during their service and those who fail will be sacked.’

In a section on tackling violence against women and girls, the Conservatives pledge to ‘legislate to create new offences for spiking, the creation of sexualised deepfake images and taking intimate images without consent.’

Shortly before calling the election, the Prime Minister met Figen Murray, the mother of Martyn Hett, who was killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. He assured her he would put in place new legislation to improve the security of public spaces and in this manifesto, the promise remains.

There is nothing about the ambulance service in this document, no references to emergency care or handover delays. Like the Liberal Democrat manifesto, the Conservative version contains nothing about fire and rescue.

To read the 80 page Conservative Party manifesto in full visit: Clear Plan. Bold Action. Secure Future.

To read our summary of the Liberal Demcrat manifesto, see What the Lib Dem election manifesto says about the emergency services.