Police coverage "worryingly low"

Police Chief Says Switch Funds from Military

Chief Constable Ray White, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), says just half a per cent cut in defence spending would transform the ability of the police to protect the public.

In an address to ACPO's summer conference in Cardiff, Mr White warns that police patrols on Britain's streets are often stretched "to the point of invisibility."

Mr White argues that three times per head of population is being spent on the armed forces than on policing: "Presumably, there is still a perceived need for this country to have the ability to project British power on the world stage and no-one could doubt the fundamental requirement for every Government to defend the country."

"I have to say, however, that the threat to this country from crime in general and drugs in particular probably far outwieghs any conceivable modern military threat."

"I do wonder whether the balance in the distribution of resources now meets our realistic national needs and indeed the priorities of the public. There are certainly many times and places in Britain in which the level of police coverage is worryingly low."

Mr White, who is Chief Constable of Dyfed Powys Police, welcomed the new Labour government's determination to work in partnership with the police to combat crime, but said their promise to stick to existing spending limits for the next two years was "disappointing."

The former Chief of the Defence Staff, Lord Lewin, has criticised Mr White over his comments, saying he doesn't understand the lessons of history.

Pointing out that the armed services had already suffered cuts in recent years, Lord Lewin told the Today programme:

"I don't think he's a strategist and I don't think he should be suggesting that he gets his money from defence because I don't think he understands the lessons of history."

"If Hitler, Galtieri and Saddam Hussein had been able to foresee the future and know what was going to happen at the end of their wars, they would never have started them -- these people don't start wars if they think they can't win." Lord Lewin warned that the defence budget was now close to a level below which the armed forces would no longer be credible.