Metropolitan Police Federation

Apology demanded as Straw puts the crass into bureaucracy

As a trained lawyer and Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw should understand the importance of evidence.

But his performance on the Radio 4 'Today' programme, when he accused police officers of laziness, indicates he has scant regard for it.

Met Federation Chairman Peter Smyth has called on him to withdraw his comments and apologise.

Listeners to the programme heard Mr Straw claim that some officers were spending four hours dealing with paperwork which others completed in one hour, adding: "Some police officers, whatever they say, quite enjoy being in the police station in the warm."

He alleged that parts of the Police Service were using bureaucracy as an excuse for not reaching targets.

His comments flew in the face of the damning findings of a 136-page Home Office report on the burden of police bureaucracy, which only weeks earlier had landed on the desk of Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

Mr Johnson ordered many of its recommendations to be adopted immediately.

Said Peter Smyth: "Mr Straw is the Government's leading light on matters of justice, so it shouldn't be too much to ask that he looks at the facts before speaking out.

"He said that some officers completed paperwork more quickly than others. But was this paperwork for identical cases? And were both sets completed to the same standard?

"The paperwork for dealing with a shoplifter is very unlikely to take as long as that for a rapist. A set of papers for one burglar can differ hugely from those of another, depending on the circumstances.

"The Labour Government, of which Mr Straw is a leading member, has passed a bewildering amount of legislation affecting policing, generally with minimal - or no - training for officers in how to adapt to it.

"Basic functions, such as booking a prisoner into custody, take far longer than they did before Labour came to power.

"Whatever Mr Straws says, the fact is: police officers do not create bureaucracy - the government, of which he is a part, does.

"He should apologise and withdraw his crass allegations, which are unsupported by evidence and insult thousands of men and women.

"To make them, as he did, on New Year's Eve, when there were so many officers out in the cold ensuring revellers enjoyed a safe evening, just adds to the picture of a Justice Secretary who is out of touch."