YEP Says: Will more armed police solve terror problem?

Yesterday Jeremy Corbyn said he would back calls for Theresa May to resign as Prime Minister over cuts to police numbers, as the fallout from the London Bridge terroris attack dominated the General Election Campaign.

The PM has been dogged by the fact that it was on her watch as Home Secretary that police numbers were slashed by 20,000.

Meanwhile Mrs May said that since 2015 police budgets had been protected and added:“It is also about the powers you give to the police and I have been responsible for giving the police extra powers to deal with terrorism.” - powers which Mr Corbyn has opposed.

A shoot-to-kill policy and a squad of trained armed officers which can be deployed quickly where and when needed have proved invaluable in Manchester and London in response to attacks. But what about the longer-term prevention of terrorism?

Police cannot stand guard over every street corner, but community police can build up links and trust on the patch where they work and that trust is vital in encouraging people to come forward with concerns over potential extremists. The other is having enough police to investigate those suspicions. The anti-terror hotline reportedly received 22,000 calls in the last year. And that’s going to need a lot of police time.