Police Pay - by David Davis

David Davis: we must restore honour and integrity to Government’s
relationship with the police. Government should not be able to depart from police pay settlement without a Parliamentary vote

Speaking to the Police Federation rally today, Shadow Home Secretary, David
Davis, said:

“It is important to be honest and upfront. We cannot promise to pay you back
pay. We do not know how many pay settlements the Government intends to beach
in the next two years. And, as a matter of integrity, it would be improper
to essentially say ‘Vote Tory and we will pay you £200’ - that sort of
politics went out of practice 200 years ago!

“Frankly this is no longer about money. It is about honour, trust and
confidence that the Government has betrayed. So I thought about how we
restore confidence in the relationship.

“We cannot legally take away the power from Government to overrule a pay
settlement, but I have agreed with David Cameron and George Osborne that if
a future Conservative Government wants to overrule a statutory arbitration,
they must come to the House of Commons and get approval. They must put it to
a vote of MPs.

“In that way we can return honour and integrity to the system and ensure
that, in future, the police and other disciplined services are never again
treated in the scandalous way you have been treated to date.”