The Home Secretary was told to “put her money where her mouth is” when she was confronted by police over concerns about pay. Priti Patel was told some officers were having to go to food banks while one detective constable, a single mother who had worked in policing for more than two decades, asked if she would be able to “survive” on £1,200 or £1,400 a month.
Vicky Knight, of North Wales Police, told the Police Federation annual conference in Manchester how she had to borrow money from her mother and described herself and some colleagues as “desperately struggling to do the job that we love and to make ends meet”.
Rich Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, was met with cheers and applause from the audience when he told Ms Patel: “It’s about time you and your colleagues put your money where your mouth is and did something about the terrible state that our colleagues are finding themselves in.”
