Grave dangers in police reform bill

Proposals to scrap police authorities and replace them with directly elected police and crime commissioners (PCCs) will be highlighted again today as the police reform and social responsibility bill receives its second reading in the House of Commons . The government, however, seems confused about the changes which introducing PCCs would bring. For example, the policing minister has recently been quoted in a Guardian blog interview saying: "We do not wish to see the politicisation of policing." Yet in the same interview the minister says: "The police have to answer to someone. They will answer to a politician." We believe the government's proposals to introduce PCCs would result in the dangerous politicisation of policing, and at significant cost to the public. This comes at a time when every penny spent from the policing budget must be justified and not spent on elections. There is no evidence that PCCs would improve the service the public receive, and every reason to reject this proposal. Cllr Rob Garnham Chair (Conservative) , Ann Barnes Deputy chair (Independent) , Cllr Mark Burns-Williamson Deputy chair (Labour), Cllr Brian Greenslade APA board (Lib Dem group Leader) Association of Police Authorities • We are joining the chorus of voices against government proposals (contained in the police reform and social responsibility bill) to give the director of public prosecutions a power of veto over arrest warrants for war crimes suspects who are visiting the UK. These warrants are issued very rarely by extremely senior district judges in Westminster, and only in response to submissions from victims accompanied by substantial evidence against the suspect. Giving a power of veto to the DPP would risk: political interference by ministers in the arrest of war crimes suspects; delaying proceedings, allowing suspects to escape justice; and would constitute a gross interference with the rights of the victim and the responsibilities of the judiciary. Ministers and diplomats are already protected by immunity when carrying out their public duties, but this change in the law would risk creating a culture of impunity in the minds of those politicians and military leaders who already treat international law with cavalier disregard. We call on parliamentarians in both houses and of all parties to support international law and reject these proposals. Richard Burden MP Jeremy Corbyn MP Alex Cunningham MP Mark Durkan MP Jonathan Edwards MP Clive Efford MP Paul Flynn MP Mike Hancock MP Cathy Jamieson MP Gerald Kaufman MP Ian Lavery MP Andy Love MP Caroline Lucas MP Kerry McCarthy MP John Mcdonnell MP George Mudie MP Ian Murray MP Sandra Osborne MP Yasmin Qureshi MP Joan Ruddock MP Bob Russell MP Baroness Jenny Tonge Mike Wood MP Billy Hayes, CWU Paul Kenny, GMB Chris Kitchen, NUM Kevin Courtney, NUT Hugh Lanning, PCS Bob Crow, RMT Betty Hunter, Palestine Solidarity Campaign John Austin Victoria Brittain Caryl Churchill Jocelyn Hurndall Dan Judelson Bruce Kent Ken Loach Kika Markham Prof Karma Nabulsi David Polden Prof Hilary Rose Prof Steven Rose Alexei Sayle Clare Short Keith Sonnet Ahdaf Soueif Dr Benjamin Zephaniah Revd Canon Garth Hewitt, Amos TrustAbe Hayeem, Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine Len Aldis, Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society Chris Doyle, CAABU Estella Schmid, Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) Kate Hudson, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) Ismail Patel, Friends of Al Aqsa Brenda Heard, Friends of Lebanon, London Liz Davies, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers Mary Nazzal-Batayneh, Human Rights Legal Aid Fund Pat Price-Tomes, ICAHD UK International Solidarity Movement (ISM) London George Farebrother, Institute for Law Accountability and Peace Diana Neslen, Jews for Justice for Palestinians Martin Linton, Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East John McHugo, Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine Daud Abdullah, Middle East Monitor (Memo) Pat Gaffney, Pax Christi Frank Barat, Russell Tribunal UK Dr Alan Mackinnon, chair, Scottish CND Hugh Humphries, Scottish Friends of Palestine Michael Marten, Scottish Palestinian Forum Lindsey German, Stop the War, Tahrir Swift, Women Solidarity for Independent and Unified Iraq John Hilary, War on Want Sarah Lasenby, NOW Network of Oxford Women for Justice and Peace Marguerite Finn, Norwich Branch Of Women's International League Of Peace And Freedom (Wilpf) Nigel Day, Oxford Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) ,