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Policing in London

I fully agree with my hon. Friend’s comments, and I shall deal with that point later. There are some general issues that require attention across London, because while I love the safer neighbourhood teams, they are not absolutely perfect. The issues were somewhat addressed by the hon. Member for Regent's Park and Kensington, North (Ms Buck). Many teams work until midnight and, occasionally, until 2 am. In our culture, however, some of the worst behaviour takes place at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. Many teams no longer work on Sundays, but in some areas, particularly on sunny Sunday afternoons, that is a time when youngsters who have been out drinking start to get out of control. Flexibility must be part of the future vision, especially as policing numbers have now increased to a reasonably respectable level. I said that I had some personal satisfaction about the issue of safer neighbourhood teams. Several Members have congratulated the Mayor of London on safer neighbourhood teams and PCSOs, and as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London in 2000, a community safety force was part of my platform. On every hustings across London, I got it in the neck from the Independent candidate Ken Livingstone, the Labour candidate Frank Dobson and the Tory candidate—first Jeffrey Archer, until he was arrested, and then Steve Norris—because it was considered a classic, foolish Liberal Democrat notion of policing. We were told constantly that PCSOs were simply police on the cheap. They are not, and I hope that that has been scotched. We were told that trying to organise a community safety force was nonsensical, and that we did not understand modern-day policing. Immediately after Ken’s election as Mayor, he came up to me and said—I cannot do his accent—““Susan, I am a magpie, and I’ll ’ave that policy.”” Well, I’m very glad that he ’ad that policy, and that it has been a success. We often hear that the Liberal Democrats did not support the idea, but in fact they stood and argued for it at a time when everyone else thought it reasonably daft.