Star comment: It’s time to get on with the real job and fight crime

Despite protestations to the contrary by West Midlands Police crime chief David Jamieson, the Home Office insists his force’s budget has gone up by £1.6 million over the last year.

This shows exactly why crime commissioners should steer clear of politicising their roles.

It is a sad fact of life that since the Tony Blair era the public sector has become openly political in what should be non-partisan roles.

Everyone from crime commissioners to hospital executives often waste little opportunity to lambast the government of the day – particularly if it is a Conservative administration.

Job adverts for senior public sector roles are almost exclusively advertised in print in the Guardian – the well known bible of the left – and contain such insidious phraseology as to make it clear that applicants should approach from a certain political viewpoint.

Rarely do we see such adverts and job descriptions in publications that would find favour in your average Conservative association.

This has led to a deeply rooted socialist approach in many of our public services, which has not always served the public well, particularly in these times of austerity.

Mr Jamieson, who let us not forget was a Labour MP for 13 years, would do well to bear this in mind when he talks about the lack of funding available to the police.

He argues that when inflation is taken into account, the amount of money available to him is drastically reduced.

However, funding issues are seldom black and white.

As far as Mr Jamieson is concerned, it would be far better if he focused on making the best use of the resources that he has to hand.

Instead of complaining about money that he has not got, he is best advised to get on with the crucial job of reducing crime in the West Midlands.