Expand role of PCSOs to fight crime, says candidate

Mike Newton, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Wolverhampton West, admitted that police were struggling to keep order at the moment.

He said any future government would need to look at innovative ways at reducing crime levels.

He said: "The sense that I get from the people of Wolverhampton is that it's not working right now, the police are good people they are hamstrung and can't go out and take the fight to the criminals in the way that we would like to see them do.

"It's not just a Wolverhampton problem, it's a national problem. People want to be policed."

He conceded there was a need for more officers on the ground, but said financial constraints meant this was unlikely anytime soon.

"We always need more," he said.

"I'm very much a believer in proactive police on the beat, intelligence-led proactive policing,

"Maybe we should need to build out the role of PCSOs, or maybe we could have a police reserve."

Mr Newton accepted that police numbers were cut between 2010 and 2019, but said they had since been restored.

He said: "The pushback from Labour was that it was years of austerity, but let's not forget the financial crisis which forced that period of austerity happened on Gordon Brown's watch, Gordon Brown may well have been re-elected if it wasn't for the financial crisis. He can't abdicate responsibility for the financial crisis."