#PayOurPolice “This Government will go down in history as the Government that destroyed policing. We only ask what is fair and what is right. Let us live.”

28 June 2022

Phil Matthews, Chair of Wiltshire Police Federation, blogs on Police Officer pay.

“It is high time the Government made recompense for the 10 year’s plus of using the police as an easy target to offer ridiculously low pay increases and penalising police officers who have no right to take industrial action.

“Our police officers are policing the strikes from other agencies whilst they stand and worry about their own fuel bill, or whether they can afford to grab a meal deal during a 10- or 12-hour shift.

“These are the people our public ask to protect them, to stand in the way of harm and to be the one you call when all other options have failed.

“At the same time we are expected to uphold amazingly strict standards of professional conduct and treat those that will harm us with respect and courtesy. All of this whilst under extreme financial pressure and stress.

“This Government will go down in history as the Government that destroyed policing. We only ask what is fair and what is right. Let us live.”