The Times reports that the head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, and other senior police officials have warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer that they will face ‘stark choices’ about which crimes to pursue if their budget is cut, adding that cutbacks would have ‘far-reaching consequences.’

Police concerns came ahead of the Treasury’s spending review which determines the Government spending plans from 2026-2029. Officials feared negotiations between the Treasury and the Home Office were going ‘poorly.’ Police officials expressed concerns about risking ‘a retrenchment to what we saw under austerity’, and saw the matter as sufficiently urgent to turn to a ‘last resort’ option of writing a letter to Sir Keir directly.

Police officials furthered in their letter that ‘policing and the NCA [National Crime Agency] have seen a sustained period where income has not kept pace with demand…that now leaves policing with very limited room for manoeuvre.’

Cooper verified that the Home Office is in search of increased funding ‘to help them [the police] with the impact of the Government’s decision to release thousands of serious criminals early’. The UK is facing a prison overcrowding crisis, and in May moved to release ‘offenders serving one to four years who are recalled to prison for breaching their licences’, such as not adhering to curfew. Prison recalls are currently rising dramatically; from June-September 2024, 9,975 out of 14,920 released prisoners were recalled for breaching their licenses.