Tory MPs lined up in Parliament last week to vote for a cut in the number of police officers protecting communities in Wirral.

The cuts come on top of the 16,000 police officers we’ve already lost across the country since David Cameron became Prime Minister – 800 of those have gone from Merseyside streets. We’re now set to lose even more and Wirral could be hit hard.

Our local police force is already overstretched and staff are finding it increasingly difficult to manage rising violent crimes such as domestic violence and rape cases.

This further reduction in the police grant is only going to make the situation worse and undermine public confidence in the ability of the police to respond effectively to emergencies. It is incredibly dangerous. That is why I vigorously opposed it in Parliament.

And it is not just violent crime that is rising. Online crime has shot through the roof. And threats to our national security have increased.

Reports of child sexual abuse are up 33%, but referrals to the CPS from the police have gone down 11% and there are serious delays in investigating online child abuse. That means victims are finding it harder to get justice and more criminals and abusers are walking away scot-free.

Even in basic responsibilities such as road safety, the police are being overstretched. The number of police on our roads, and the number of driving offence penalties have fallen substantially, but the number of casualties and fatalities has gone up.

The Tories just don’t seem to get the pressures public services are under.

From the police to the NHS, frontline support is being shattered. If the Tories win again in May, their vision of a pre-1930s society when we didn’t have such vital services could soon become a reality.

Labour would take an alternative approach.

We’ll make saving in others areas which would see our front line protected in order to do the vital job of protecting our local communities.