20,000 more Police for Mr Brown's escort service.

Mrs Rigby notices that Roger Baker, Chief Constable of Essex, says that if they cut down on waste, such as "... 'barmy projects', lavish buffets and designer sunglasses ..." there could be up to 20,000 more Police on the beat within five years. Being a bit of a cynic Mrs R notes that he will be retiring this summer, and wonders why he's waited until now to suggest saving some money. The article is here

Mrs Rigby thinks it's nice to see the principal of joined-up ideas working so effectively, she is pleased to see that all these extra personnel will be ready for Mr Brown's newly announced "getting home escort service."

You see, Mrs Rigby noted here that Mr Brown wants "the public" to be able to call on the Police to walk them home from the cashpoint, or from the pub after a night out. He doesn't say what people who live outside big cities and big towns are supposed to do to get home, when the last bus has been cancelled, but that's by the by.

Mrs Rigby would actually like to see Police officers, somewhere, anywhere. The last one(s) she saw whizzed past in a noisy fast car with a flashing blue light on top. Mrs R reckons that if there were more Police around, at all hours of the day or night, there wouldn't be the need for silly ideas such as Mr Brown's escort service. But, maybe, he wasn't thinking of us ordinary folk, maybe he's really trying to save Barbara Follett some money.

Mrs Rigby doesn't buy into the idea that we public don't need to see the Police to know they're working, because she's one of these "public", and isn't the least reassured by locked stations with nobody to open the door if you need to knock on it for help - especially at night.

Mrs R would like to see partly mothballed Police Stations in small towns (i.e. not cities) open 24 hours a day, instead of people having to rely on a yellow telephone outside the door. She'd like staff answering emergency calls to have some idea of the area they cover, instead of them being so isolated in the middle of a huge "command area" that they simply haven't got a clue.

Mrs Rigby thinks people should be able to see, and have easy access to what they pay for, and that's Police - proper Police - who know their local area, and who local people can relate to if they've got a problem.