Ellesmere Port & Neston MP Andrew Miller joined the shopworkers' Union Usdaw at the launch of their campaign against the police cuts and has branded the Tory-led Coalition's attack on police budgets a threat to the safety of all shopworkers.  The Union has produced a leaflet and petition against the cuts and will use its annual Respect for Shopworkers Week, which takes place between 7–11 November, to urge shoppers and members of the public to back the campaign and sign Usdaw's petition.

Usdaw Deputy General Secretary Paddy Lillis at the launch in the House of Commons said: "Every minute of every day another shopworker is assaulted, threatened or abused. That is why one of Usdaw's major campaigns is called Freedom From Fear.  Shopworkers should be free from the fear of violence, threats and verbal abuse and it should never be accepted as just a part of the job.

"Under the Labour Government, violent incidents against shopworkers halved because Labour invested in 12,000 additional uniformed police officers.  Does anyone really believe that by cutting frontline policing, crime will continue to fall - as it did with Labour?  That is not the logical conclusion I draw.  I fear that when these cuts bite we will be left with a much less effective police force that will be grossly under-staffed and terribly demoralised.”

Andrew Miller MP said: “I am grateful for Usdaw’s thanks for the opposition I have expressed to police cuts, I know this has the support of the whole community.   Usdaw’s once again highlights the consequences of the Government’s cuts to policing and I wholeheartedly support their campaign. The first duty of Government is to protect us all. We know that Labour’s investment in police made a real difference.  Crime fell by 43% because the Labour Government put thousands of extra officers on the street, created PCSOs to give a higher profile to street policing, formed neighbourhood police teams and gave the public a greater say in how their communities are policed.”

You can sign Usdaw’s petition against police cuts by visiting: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/ourcampaigns/freedomfromfear.aspx

Ends 18th October 2011