Norfolk Police Federation Chair says meetings with MPs have been a positive experience

22 July 2020

The Chairman of Norfolk Police Federation said that recent discussions with local MPs had been positive - and that it was important that they knew “the thoughts and feelings of their constituents and their police officers”.

Norfolk has nine MPs, three of whom – Jerome Mayhew, James Wild and Duncan Baker – were newly elected in December 2019.

Norfolk Police Federation Chairman Andy Symonds said that so far he had spoken to Jerome Mayhew, the Conservative MP for Broadland, and George Freeman, Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk.

Andy said: “I wanted to speak to them from a Federation point of view and a Norfolk point of view so that they’re fully up to date. Also so they can get what's going on locally, especially when it comes to any consultations that involve policing such as the doubling of the police assaults sentencing.

“Police assaults and what the Government can do is always firmly on the agenda when I speak to MPs, so we can support those officers.

“The other big issue is the police pursuits and response driving regulations. That’s still rumbling in the background and it's important that if the MPs are sitting in the Chamber they know the thoughts and feelings of their constituents and their police officers.”

Andy also raised the Time Limits campaign with Jerome Mayhew and told him how long it can take the IOPC to investigate what are often relatively simple complaints.

Ironically, Andy said the coronavirus pandemic had made it easier for him to speak to MPs, as he could talk to them over Zoom even when they are in Westminster.

Andy said he had more meetings with MPs in the diary but the ones he had had so far had been “really positive”. He added: “I do this every so often to get people up to speed. A lot of new MPs don’t know what the Federation is about. It’s important to build relationships so we can lobby and try to make things that bit easier for officers.”