Einstein : Not everything that can be counted counts. And not everything that counts can be counted.

Friday 31 August 2007

Obligations, part 2.

I am here today to pay tribute to you, to the forces you lead, to the local police authorities you work with, and above all, the 140,000 police officers and police staff who each day take responsibility for the protection of all our citizens.

Over the last year I have seen close at hand, in all areas of the country and in the last few days meeting police in Liverpool, in Birmingham, and the Met in London - your great achievements.

Your day-to-day work combating crime and ensuring safe communities.

Your one-to-one work with young people at risk of wasting their lives in crime, and
your achievements from the local to the global, uncovering and thwarting terrorist conspiracies, bringing major national and international crimes to justice.

We place in your hands our homes and our safety and security. We expect you to risk danger and sometimes your lives on our behalf - with the recent tragic deaths of PC Ricky Gray and PC Jon Henry reminding us again of the bravery and the sacrifice that is required in the line of duty.

There is no more fundamental right than the right of a citizen to be safe and secure.

So there is no greater responsibility than that which you as police officers accept.

And there is no greater obligation for us in Government than to support you in discharging that duty.

Who said this ? Gordon Brown. There is also that word again. Obligation.

He said more.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2007/press_66_07.cfm

1 comment:

Metcountymounty said...

And yet he is conversely obligated to try and force through below inflation pay increases across the board (accept for him and his staff of course), and then staggering those increases over a year, effectively giving everyone a pay cut. And he is also obligated to require all the Police forces in the country, as well as the NHS trusts to slice off around 3% of their annual budget and give it back to the government. The only places that these cuts are able to come from are overtime for frontline PC's and resources for frontline teams and staff, thereby making the situation worse for everyone.

I sincerely hope all those who can strike like nurses, prison officers, firefighters and doctors, actually do so and cause enough anarchy in this country to force through a policy change, if not a government change.