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Policing in London

With the leave of the House, I will briefly respond to the debate. On the whole, it has been a reasonable and measured debate that has covered some serious matters. It goes to show that the point that was made what seems like a terribly long time ago about having a broader state-of-London debate once a year, or at some other interval, was a point well made. We should have such a debate. Perhaps we can refine it so that it consists of London MPs, or at least give London MPs some sort of preference. Many serious issues have been raised—many of which, as some have suggested, have drawn together a broad consensus on where we need to go, although there have been quite a few discordant notes. Broadly, what people in London want from policing is a degree of consistency of application across all boroughs, with a degree of flexibility for local circumstances. What I said earlier about Bexley safer neighbourhood teams differing from the teams in Hammersmith, Harrow or Richmond is perfectly okay. Those teams need to reflect the concerns and priorities of the local communities and, as Members have said, the geography of the areas. That is fine. They also need a degree of sustainability. People will see through gimmicks, such as those that rely on section 106 agreements or taking money out of more deprived communities—north Fulham and the new deal for communities were mentioned. They want deliverability and sustainability throughout their communities. My hon. Friend the Member for Regent's Park and St. John’s Wood—not St. John’s Wood, but somewhere round there. [Interruption.] North Kensington—where I was born. My hon. Friend the Member for Regent's Park and Kensington, North (Ms Buck) made a point about sophistry and statistics. Anyone can start with assorted base years and then make up the arguments that they choose to. That is not terribly helpful. It is useful to start from the premise of broad statistics on which we can agree. We can all go into the realms of making utter assertions about under-reporting that are based on no facts at all and work back from them to invent any sort of fantasy that we want. Assertion is a wonderful thing, while assertion plus the sort of privilege afforded in this place makes for all sorts of wonderful speeches in the Chamber, but they do not mean anything in substance or make a useful contribution to our deliberations. However, people are of course free to make such speeches. We should start from areas on which there is a degree of agreement. Although the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) might have cited figures, she irresponsibly drew from them assertions—they were only assertions—that were not based on any sort of facts or evidence. The points of substance that were raised in the debate were well made and the MPA and the commissioner should listen to them. Although I cannot speak for everywhere in London, even though I have been around much of it, I do not accept, certainly in north-west London, that the way in which the roles of safer neighbourhoods teams are defined is rigid, either within boroughs or across boroughs. Many of my ward teams work together in the borough because two wards are united by a piece of common geography, such as a park.