Crying wolf? No, the Federation has been proved right

20 May 2025

Ten years ago this week former Prime Minister Theresa May made what was to be a defining speech in terms of the Government’s relationship with the Police Federation.

The then Home Secretary accused the Federation of crying wolf when it warned of the impact of budget cuts on policing and said it was scaremongering.

In making a stern keynote speech to the 2015 Police Federation of England and Wales national conference, Ms May sealed her fate as one of the least popular Home Secretaries to take to the stage at the annual event.

Then-Home Secretary Theresa May.

But Tom Hill, secretary of Nottinghamshire Police Federation, says that the facts now speak for themselves and the Federation should feel vindicated.

“In many senses, it would have been better if we had been proved wrong. It would be good to be looking back over the last 10 years and seeing that the cuts hadn’t damaged the police service that we are able to provide to our communities and that officers were not now leaving policing in their droves,” he explained.

“It gives me no great satisfaction to say that we have been proved right. The cuts have had far-reaching consequences and the police service is now in crisis.

Challenges

“Officer morale is low. Officers do not feel valued or respected. They do not feel they are paid fairly for the risks and challenges of their role, and many say they do not want to stay in policing. 

“Successive governments have failed policing and it is now time for long-term and sustained investment in the service to bring it back from the brink for the sake of the public and for police officers, police staff and the whole policing family.”

In her conference speech on 20 May 2015, Ms May said, despite previous cuts to police budgets, crime had fallen and officer numbers were rising insisting that policing could do more with less.

A decade later, crime rates are up by 44 per cent, officer resignations have increased by 142 per cent since 2018 and police officer pay has fallen by 21 per cent in real terms since 2010. Public confidence in policing has also declined.

Copped Enough

Backing up its Copped Enough – What the Police Take Home Is Criminal campaign, the Federation has launched a short film highlighting its stance on the crying wolf speech.

“It’s fair to say that we were right when we warned about the effects the cuts would have and we are right now. The Government must act, and it must act now,” says Tom.

“We are the service of first and last resort and the service that never says no. But we are also a service that is on its knees, and it is shameful that the Government is not treating police officers and the police service as a whole fairly.”

READ MORE: Copped Enough: retention crisis is a threat to community safety.