---

Fighting Crime (Public Engagement)

What is the right hon. Gentleman's analysis of our analysis of the problem, which is that there is a lack of accountability? We need to return police accountability to local people. There is cricked-neck management of the police, because they are for ever looking up to the Home Office. If they could only look down at their local population and be accountable to someone elected by that population, the chief constable would have a shield of protection from interfering Home Secretaries and would be able to police for local people and thus repair the divide about which the right hon. Gentleman speaks so powerfully.