I had a sobering meeting with the Norfolk Police Federation, and what they had to say was deeply concerning.
• They’re frustrated by how the police are portrayed in the media and the wider public’s perception of them.
• They feel ‘policing by consent’ is at real risk, partly because of the politicisation of policing—accusations of ‘two-tier’ policing, for example.
• Officer morale is low, with workloads becoming unmanageable.
• Like many frontline public sector workers, they see first-hand the impact of over a decade of austerity. Social infrastructure collapse—or near collapse—means the police and NHS are increasingly left to deal with crises they were never meant to handle.
• Recruitment is a struggle, and pay is a big part of the problem. Shockingly, around 10% of officers nationwide can’t even afford to pay into their pensions.

This isn’t just a policing issue—it’s a pattern across the public sector. Prison and probation officers, police, and FE teachers—are all dealing with rising workloads, stagnant wages, and declining resources. The idea that public sector workers got a significant pay rise last year is a myth. Even those who did are still nowhere near making up for 15 years of real-terms pay cuts.

Attached is a letter I’ve written to the Home Secretary, alongside the Norfolk Police Federation and unions representing non-frontline staff, to push for action on pay, funding, and morale. This crisis isn’t going away—it’s deepening.

In the meantime, I want to thank all those working in policing and our public services. Your work—often in challenging circumstances—keeps our communities running. After 15 years of cuts, you all deserve the support and investment the public rightly wants to see you receive.” Those who did are still nowhere near making up for 15 years of real-terms pay cuts.