OVER 400 off duty officers from Merseyside Police will be joining up to 15,000 of their colleagues from across England and Wales on a march in central London next week.
The rally, organised by the Police Federation, will march through the heart of political Westminster and allow officers and their families to demonstrate their anger and frustration at the government’s recent “betrayal over pay”.
Frustrated officers say the rally being held on Wednesday, January 23, is the only way they can show their lack of trust in the current Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith.
The decision taken by Ms Smith not to ratify, in full, the decision of the Police Arbitration Tribunal and to pay officers the recommended 2.5% pay backdated to September, effectively delivers police a pay cut in real terms.
By only backdating to December 1, the deal is worth only 1.9%, and gives officers a rise that even falls below the 2% blanket pay policy introduced by the government for public sector workers.
The Police Federation has made several attempts to reconcile this matter with the Home Secretary yet she has so far failed to give any indication she is willing to reconsider.
