POLICE PRESSURE

A Populus survey has shown that a staggering 58 per cent of the population disagree with the government's proposals to merge police forces in England and Wales. Yet the government is storming ahead with its proposals. Does this really show that the government listens to the peoples' voices? Although the key thinker in police merger, David Blunkett, fell (or was rather pushed) from his post, Blair is continuing his plans to merge police forces around the UK and Wales (excluding London and Manchester). A Government Green Paper published last year said smaller forces would be amalgamated and replaced with "strategic forces" capable of dealing with policing in the 21st century, including neighbourhood crime, public disorder and organised crime. Will this poll stop the government in its tracks? Will Blair's ministers realise that it's now time to listen to the people it is meant to be representing?