No confidence in Home Secretary, says Police Federation amid pay row

The Police Federation of England and Wales says it no longer has confidence in the Home Secretary after branding a bitterly opposed pay freeze for officers as “the final straw”.

Priti Patel has confirmed police officers earning more than £24,000 would be hit by the freeze. Those earning less will be given an annual rise of £250.

The body, which represents rank-and-file officers, said the pay system was “not fit for purpose” as it announced plans to withdraw its support from the body which reviews remuneration.

The Police Federation of England & Wales no longer has confidence in the current Home Secretary.

The organisation has made a decision to withdraw its support and engagement from the Police Remuneration Review Body, labelling the current pay mechanism ‘not fit for purpose’.

— Police Federation (@PFEW_HQ) July 22, 2021

The Police Federation’s national chairman John Apter said: “We often hear the Home Secretary praise police officers but our members are so angry with this Government. They have been on the frontline of this pandemic for 18 months and will now see other public services given pay increases while they receive nothing.

“At the beginning of this pandemic they endured PPE shortages and were not even prioritised for the vaccination.

“They continue to be politicised and this pay announcement is the final straw.

“As the organisation that represents more than 130,000 police officers I can say quite categorically – we have no confidence in the current Home Secretary. I cannot look my colleagues in the eye and do nothing.”

Announcing the pay freeze in a written ministerial statement on Wednesday, Ms Patel said: “This is in order to ensure fairness between public and private sector wage growth, as the private sector was significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in the form of reduced hours, suppressed earnings growth and increased redundancies, whilst the public sector was largely shielded from these effects.”