City Hall Liberal Democrats today reacted angrily after Labour and Green Assembly Members voted against a Liberal Democrat amendment to the Mayor’s Budget to prevent planned police front counter closures and reductions, which may happen as soon as next month.
The Liberal Democrat amendment would have provided funding to halt any changes and keep police front counters open while the evidence is gathered, Londoners are consulted and the impacts on the most vulnerable Londoners are properly assessed.
This vote comes despite previously stated cross-party concerns about the decision.
In a letter to the Mayor, the London Assembly’s cross-party Police and Crime Committee warned:
“Ultimately, we do not agree that this is the right way to achieve the efficiencies and savings demanded of the Met.”
Liberal Democrats say Labour and the Greens have now contradicted themselves by refusing to back the funding needed to stop the closures when it mattered.
Speaking after the vote, Assembly Member Gareth Roberts said:
“The Mayor broke his promise of a 24/7 police station in every borough, and today Labour and the Greens voted to let him get away with it. We’ve gone from 32 stations open around the clock to just two. It’s a reckless gamble with public safety, taken without proper evidence or public consultation and it’s extremely reckless.
“For vulnerable Londoners – victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, those who cannot use digital services – in-person access to police isn’t optional, it’s a lifeline.
“Every party claimed to oppose these closures. Today was the chance to actually stop them. Labour and the Greens chose not to. They’ve contradicted their own position and turned their backs on the needs of the most vulnerable Londoners.”
The party also slammed Labour’s refusal to support a Liberal Democrat motion to tackle holiday hunger, saying it showed “dangerous complacency” in the face of rising child poverty and food insecurity across the capital.
Leader of the London Assembly Liberal Democrat Group, Hina Bokhari OBE AM said:
“Child poverty in London is at emergency levels, yet Labour is acting as if holiday hunger is already covered. The reality is that children across the capital are still going hungry during school holidays and councils are about to lose a key source of funding that has helped keep families afloat during the holidays. This is not the moment for dangerous complacency. If we are serious about tackling child poverty, we must make sure no child goes hungry, in or out of school.”
The London Liberal Democrats accused Labour of letting hungry children down and turning its back on London’s most vulnerable, at a time of rising crime and a cost of living crisis.
