New Home Secretary welcomed

1 May 2018

The Prime Minister has appointed Sajid Javid as the new Home Secretary following Amber Rudd’s retirement late on Sunday evening.

The appointment has been cautiously welcomed by Leicestershire Police Federation chair Tiff Lynch.

“Of course, we welcome the fact that the Prime Minister has acted quickly to fill the post of Home Secretary, one of the most important jobs in Government,” says Tiff.

“We congratulate Mr Javid on this appointment and wish him every success in this new role. However, he is going to have to quickly get to grips with everything now in his remit.

“His first priority is going to be to act on the Windrush scandal that ultimately led to the demise of his predecessor but he has a number of other pressing issues that he must tackle with some urgency too including a new post-Brexit immigration system and the fight against terrorism.

“Then there is the growing scourge of knife-crime and the ongoing concerns about the effect Government cuts are having on the police service, both in terms of how we can protect our communities and how we can look after the health, safety and wellbeing of police officers.”

With just three weeks to the Police Federation conference in Birmingham, Mr Javid has only a short time to get up to speed on current policing issues if he is to follow in the footsteps of other Home Secretaries who have traditionally made a keynote speech to delegates.

“I hope that Mr Javid does attend,” says Tiff, “After all, since he is the MP for Bromsgrove, it is not far from his patch. However, I hope that being new in post does not give him the chance to duck members’ questions if he does. We look forward to welcoming him to conference to hear what he has to say.”