Latest news with #SarahPochin
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Female officers crucial to policing, says chief after ‘diminishing' comments by Reform MP
Police chiefs have criticised Reform UK's 'diminishing' of female police officers, when, during its launch of law and order policies, it said women should patrol only with a 'big, strapping' male constable. On Monday the rightwing party tried to establish itself as the party of law and order but Sarah Pochin, its justice spokesperson, said she did not like seeing two women together on patrol. Gavin Stephens, the chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, hit back at the claims by saying that female officers were 'critical' to tackling crime. Stephens said: 'There are an increasing number of women who choose a career in policing, bringing with them vital skills and experience that are critical to the progress of policing, our role in society, and keeping the public safe. 'Over a third of our officers and around 40% of our chief constables are women, and we must not jeopardise our progress by diminishing the value and role women play in our workforce. 'There are no roles in policing which women cannot do, and the same exacting standards to qualify are met by all men and women who undertake some of the most challenging tasks of any profession. 'We celebrate that women have an essential and irreplaceable role in every aspect of policing across the United Kingdom; policing is at its best when it represents the communities it serves, and our priority continues to be making policing a career where anyone can thrive and make a difference.' Launching a suite of promises on law and order on Monday, Reform;s leader, Nigel Farage, said that criminals should 'slightly fear the police', adding 'that is a desirable place for us to be as a society'. Later Pochin, Reform's justice spokesperson who is also the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, told the BBC 'I never feel comfortable actually seeing two female officers together. I'd much rather see a great big strapping male police officer with a female.' She added that women police officers 'look vulnerable' and should be deployed to 'more sensitive situations', such as dealing with children or women who have suffered from domestic violence. One chief constable told the Guardian that not just chiefs were annoyed, but rank-and-file officers also: 'It takes us back 30 years, and it has annoyed my work force as well. To suggest women officers are not equal because they are not of a certain size and shape, is a disservice.' The chief said physical confrontation was nowadays a 'minuscule' part of the job and women were also more likely to make an arrest without the need for force. Reform UK also pledged 30,000 more officers, costing an estimated £2bn. The chief said that up to 40% of new recruits were women, and that Reform's comments would deter women from joining if the party was looking to boost police numbers.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Reform pledges to bring tougher bobbies on the beat... because 'society needs that tiny bit of fear'
Reform wants to bring back 'big strapping' bobbies on the beat whom the public would fear. Party leader Nigel Farage said people out looking for trouble would think twice about committing a crime if they saw policemen they were scared of. And his first female MP, Sarah Pochin, said women police officers on patrol together looked vulnerable. The biggest pledge of Mr Farage's plan to restore law and order to Britain is to recruit 30,000 more police over five years, at a cost of £10.5 billion. It would take the workforce from 147,000 in England and Wales, plus another 7,000 police community support officers who cannot make arrests, to almost 185,000. Latest figures show that women account for one in three officers nationwide. Mr Farage said: 'We will scrap all diversity, equality and inclusion roles, and we will aim for a higher and physically tougher standard of police officer on our streets. 'I think if British criminals slightly fear the police, that is a desirable place for us to be as a society.' He told how an Army officer he knew who had served in Afghanistan had applied to join the police on his return but was told to 'come back next year because they were having trouble with their quotas'. Nigel Farage said people out looking for trouble would think twice about committing a crime if they saw policemen they were scared of 'Enough of all that rubbish. And in fact, on that theme, we would look very much to go to people who have served in the Armed Forces who we think would make ideal police officers,' Mr Farage said. Asked if scrapping diversity roles would damage trust in policing, he said: 'No, I think we should fear police, just like as kids we would just be slightly respectful and maybe a touch fearful of school teachers when we were 11 years old or whatever.' He said 'society needs' that 'tiny little bit of fear' and that 'for people out looking for trouble, and if they see, you know, a couple of big strapping police officers, they'll think, 'you know what, this might not be such a good idea'. We need much, much tougher policing.' Asked if some current officers should not be in their posts, he said: 'We're not going to sack police officers, we're going to hire police officers. We just think that a better physical standard is needed.' Ms Pochin, a former magistrate, told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'I would feel much safer with the two great big strapping police officers walking down my street. I never like to see actually two female police officers out together. I think they look vulnerable.'
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Enter Nige's fantasy UK, where crims operate with impunity and only the lucky get out alive
A darkened room in central London. Curtains drawn to keep the lawbreakers out. A few dozen brave journalists who have dared to walk the streets. Mugshots of convicted criminals along with the sentences received line the walls on video screens. Though weirdly, none of James McMurdock. Perhaps Reform has yet to update its own database of undesirables. Young James is taking a break from the party whip while the Public Sector Fraud Authority investigates Covid loans to his companies. That's the trouble with London today. Trust no one. Just after 11am, a siren goes off and Nigel Farage, the Conservative-turned-Reform councillor Laila Cunningham and Tory-turned-Reform MP Sarah Pochin settle down behind a table. To their right is a lectern with the slogan 'Britain is lawless'. Miraculously, none of them have had their phones nicked or been stabbed on the journey into London. A city where crims operate with impunity. Dante's seventh circle of hell. A place where only the lucky get out alive. First up is Laila, a woman who freely admits she expects to get robbed every time she leaves her front door. She's almost sorry when she makes it back home in one piece. Laila has something she wants to get off her chest: she doesn't actually like anyone. Her country has been betrayed. One day, she might ask who was responsible. The answer might be closer to home than she imagines. Nige has done as much to shape the UK in the last 10 years as anyone. If you want to know why we're broke, you can start with Brexit. But for now, Laila is beyond thinking. She's just a heartbeat away from taking out an AK-47 and mowing down a nearby gang. Next came Sarah P, AKA Nurse Ratched. The unthinking person's idea of a thinking person. She too is in despair. London is a ruined city. The only people out in daylight hours are shoplifters and drug dealers, most of them foreigners. Sarah is almost in tears as she goes on to say that most Afghan migrants are potential sex offenders. How she yearns for the days when you could rely on all rapists to be white. But that's two-tier justice for you. Spare a thought for poor Lucy Connolly, who was sentenced to prison just for inciting people to burn refugees alive inside their hotel. Where was the harm in that? It was obviously only a joke. And Sarah is still laughing her head off at it. Worryingly, Farage appears to be lining her up to be his home secretary. She's one of the few Reform MPs he hasn't yet fallen out with. For the details, such as they are, we have to wait for Nige. He, too, is living out his own fantasies of a London that is one large no-go area. Crime is out of control, he says. Don't believe the statistics that show violent crime is going down. Just turn the graphs the other way up and use your own data. Stop and search everyone. Especially foreigners. Zero tolerance for anything. Apart from James McMurdock. Three strikes and it's life imprisonment. Send our worst prisoners to El Salvador – with any luck they might get tortured there. Send foreigners back to foreign lands. Build Nightingale prisons and throw away the keys. Recruit 30,000 new police officers. Abandon all diversity and equality targets. If you want a proper copper you need to get a white, heterosexual man to do the job. Only then will you feel safe. This was Nige's fantasy world. A country on its knees, reduced to lawlessness by the woke and the Blob. A land only he could save by locking every crim up. No offence would go unpunished. To prove his point, he passed around a sheet of paper with some bogus figures explaining how he would pay for everything. Shrink the state, cut net zero and HS2 and you can do what you like, he said. He was asked about El Salvador. Was he serious? Oh, no. Not that El Salvador. He couldn't think why he had said it. He was all heart really. Nige and reality have a small intersection area. Elsewhere in Westminster, the government was winding down before the summer recess. For Keir Starmer, this meant one of his thrice-yearly appearances before the liaison committee. A chance for the select committee chairs to ask the prime minister a few – reasonably – polite questions about his performance so far. It was noticeable that the Labour members of the committee were a great deal tougher than they had been last time round. Meg Hillier got things going by asking what he thought the country would look like in three years' time. It would be amazing, Keir replied. Everything would be hunky-dory. No one should take his brilliance for granted. The Tories had broken everything. He was the saviour who would mend things. In the public seating area, the first eyelids began to droop. Starmer has the unique gift of being able to put any crowd to sleep. It's got him out of bigger holes than this. The session drifted on as Keir talked technobabble – 'no silver bullet', 'delivery targets' – while the committee tried to reintroduce him to the real world. If he was really committed to ending poverty, why didn't he consider getting rid of the two-child benefit cap? And even the diluted reforms to the welfare bills were going to increase poverty. Debbie Abrahams insisted these weren't Labour values and that she felt ashamed. Liam Byrne wondered why Starmer was so reluctant to make changes to capital gains tax? Then he could afford to give tax breaks to the less well-off. Keir mumbled something about not setting the budget months ahead and the forecasts constantly changing and we all went back to sleep. Hillier ended by asking what had been his highlight of his first year in office. 'Easy,' said Starmer: walking into Downing Street for the first time. Which rather suggested it had all been downhill from there.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Does Farage Want To Protect The UK From 'Collapse'? By Sending Prisoners To El Salvador, Of Course
Nigel Farage has a brand new plan to help save Britain from 'societal collapse', apparently. In a press conference, the Reform UK leader declared his party would cut crime in half amid a rise of alleged 'lawlessness' in Britain. As his party continues to lead in the polls, here's the £17.4bn vision he set out for how Reform would manage criminals if it were to win the next general election – including the rather bizarre figures who inspire him... Utilising other countries – like El Salvador Farage suggested sending British prisoners overseas to countries like El Salvador in Central America to complete their sentences. This is one of the arguments Reform has presented as part of the argument in favour of leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. Farage told the media today: 'We can send some of our worst violent criminals overseas to serve their terms. 'If that means that [child murderer] Ian Huntley goes to El Salvador…our attitude is so be it.' When reminded that the detainees in El Salvador have questionable human rights – they are isolated, do not have access to significant legal recourse and held in concerning conditions – Farage quickly backtracked, calling it an 'an extreme example.' Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin then jumped in: 'If they [offenders] lose some human rights about family visiting or whatever else it might be, Sky News in the cell. then it's a good thing, because it's about time we got tougher with these people.' But veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil still slammed the idea on Times Radio, saying: 'I don't like his idea of sending prisoners to El Salvador, to some godforsaken hellhole, we're a civilised nation we shouldn't be doing that.' "I don't like his idea of sending prisoners to El Salvador, to some godforsaken hellhole.'Nigel Farage's proposal to send prisoners to El Salvador is inhumane for a 'civilised nation' like Britain, says @AFNeil. — Times Radio (@TimesRadio) July 21, 2025 Nightingale prisons According to Farage, pop-up prisons inspired by the Nightingale hospitals set up during the Covid pandemic would help ease the capacity crisis in Britain's justice system. He said 12,400 offenders who have committed low-level crimes could be put up in these new constructions at the cost of £5bn over a five-year parliament. But Farage overlooked how many of the Nightingale Covid centres never had a patient – as the Guardian reported in 2020 – and that two-thirds of those beds were allegedly unfit for use. Reform would also unveil 100 pop-up custody centres for crime hot spots, and reopen 50 'mothballed premises' for use as courts. Borrowing from Rudy Giuliani Farage admitted his party's attitude would be inspired by Rudy Giuliani's crackdown on crime during his time as New York mayor three decades ago. In his famous 'broken windows' theory, Giuliani famously focused on lower level crime in an effort to deter larger criminal operations. The Reform UK leader said they were 'borrowing from the Giuliani playbook unashamedly'. 'What Rudy Giuliani did to New York in the 1990s was nothing short of a blooming miracle,' he said. Giuliani, formerly a lawyer for Donald Trump, was disbarred in New York earlier this year when he was found to be in contempt of court for falsely accusing officials in Georgia of committing election fraud in 2020. Inspired by Miliei Although this plan would cost £17.4bn over a five-year parliament, Farage said:'It's not really a question of 'can we afford to do this?' It's a question of 'can we afford not to do this?' That's just how grim and serious the situation is.' 'Of course you're going to say where is the money going to come from,' he noted, before suggesting the funds would come from abolishing the HS2 project, Net Zero and diversity, equality and inclusion programmes. He then pointed to Javier Milei, Argentina's libertarian president. He said Milei was accused of being a 'madman' but 'look what's happening'. Farage continued: 'He has cut the size of the public sector by about 15%, 20% in some cases. Argentina is beginning to see the beginnings of an economic miracle.' Miliei has undoubtedly improved the country's struggling economy – its high inflation has cooled and its currency controls have fallen – but public sector salaries have also declined in response, and protests have become a weekly occurrence. Wait, what 'societal collapse'? Of course, all of Farage's proposals are based on several assumptions. Firstly, that the country is on the cusp of 'nothing short of societal collapse' due to its high crime rate. Secondly, he set out the premise for his plan by saying: 'The crime survey for England and Wales is based on completely false data. If you look at police recorded crime... there are some significant rises in crimes of all kinds, particularly crimes against the person.' There was a 14% increase in crime last year on the year before – but prior to that, there have been significant successive falls over the last three decades. Thirdly, the MP for Clacton also claimed 'tourists are increasingly reluctant to come to London'. Actually, out of all the city destinations in the world, London had the second highest rate of international arrivals in 2023 with 18.8 arrivals, according to the UN World Tourism Organisation. Is this all just 'headline-chasing'? Naturally, Farage's political opponents were quick to tear into the announcement. Labour Party chair Ellie Reeves said: 'Nigel Farage repeatedly tried to block tough measures to make our streets safer. 'Reform is more interested in headline-chasing than serious policy-making in the interests of the British people.' Chris Philp the Tories' shadow home secretary, said:'Nigel Farage is writing his own crime fiction. 'Their own document admits it is unfunded – which means they are not being honest about the price you will pay for their policies just like Labour. 'This is the same Nigel Farage who calls immigration enforcement 'divisive', wants an amnesty for illegal immigrants who've 'integrated', and says mass deportation is a 'political impossibility'. You cannot trust a word he says.' And former chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, told Times Radio: 'Where I think what he's saying just doesn't add up is that first of all, what he's proposing will cost far, far more than he's suggesting and secondly, I don't actually think it will address the real concerns that people have got about crime.' Related... MP Gives Voters An Important Reminder About Nigel Farage's Brexit Past Nigel Farage Makes Light Of Concerns Over A Reform Mayor's Huge Pay Rise. No One Else Is Laughing. Nigel Farage Says Some Afghans Airlifted To UK Are 'Sex Offenders'. But There's No Evidence That's True
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Want to ban the burka? Try asking the women like me first
When Sarah Pochin, the Reform MP, recently asked prime minister Keir Starmer whether Britain should follow France, Belgium, and Denmark in banning the burka, my mother - watching the clip beside me - tilted her head and asked, 'What is she saying? 'Burger'?' It wasn't just a mishearing. It was a reminder that in this country, politicians feel entitled to debate our clothing, our faith and our freedom - yet still stumble over the word burka. They discuss what Muslim women wear, but can't pronounce it correctly. It's not burger, and it's not burk-ah. It's boorkah. The very least politicians can do, before legislating our lives, is get the name right. Some might argue that since some Muslim-majority countries have banned the burka - that makes it a legitimate position. Morocco, Tunisia, and others have imposed restrictions, often in the name of modernisation, national unity, or security. Runcorn and Helsby MP Sarah Pochin questioned Keir Starmer in Prime Minister's Questions whether he would follow some European countries lead in banning the burka. — Sky News (@SkyNews) June 5, 2025 But authoritarianism should not be confused with liberation. The outcome is the same: women's agency is erased, and the state decides how we appear in public. That isn't empowerment - it's control, dressed up as reform. In 2015, a white man approached me and asked: 'What colour is your hair under your veil?' I replied: 'It's pink,' but didn't ask him what colour his hair had been before he went bald. That moment stayed with me because it revealed how people feel entitled to interrogate Muslim women. I later wrote a book about that experience, My Hair Is Pink Under This Veil, chronicling my decision to wear the hijab and the questions, assumptions, and aggressions that came with it. The burka, like the hijab, has become a symbol onto which people project their fears, fantasies and frustrations. But behind every veil is a person - thinking, choosing, living. So when politicians like Sarah Pochin suggest banning the burka, they're not just mispronouncing a word, they're speaking for women like me without asking our opinion. Women like me who are voters, writers, public office holders and community builders. Our identities cannot be legislated away and our voices won't be silenced - not by policy, not by prejudice, not by fear. This is discrimination, and it's happening in a country where 61% of young women from racial minorities already report facing bias at work. The debate around Islam, inequality and integration shifts with every headline, political soundbite, crisis or act of violence. Against this backdrop, Muslim women have had to fight to carve out our place in society. How can we speak of integration in a Brexit era when Muslim women are still labelled "submissive" and white men feel emboldened to tear veils from our heads in public? When Muslim girls grow up amid poverty, deprivation, drug abuse and exploitation? When gender-based Islamophobia intensifies under the guise of national cohesion? We must ask what the veil means - not just to Muslim women, but to those who react to it. Is it a personal expression of faith and identity? A misunderstood political symbol? Or a mirror exposing the anxieties of modern Britain? Right-wing and nationalist forces have long exploited the veil as either a symbol of oppression or defiance, and labelled it something to fear. I remember working on the Isle of Dogs in East London when the British National Party had a councillor elected. Combat 18 roamed the streets. A Muslim grocer had a pig's head flung into his shop in broad daylight. There was one estate where I had to support two Bangladeshi families to relocate after repeated hostilities. One mother had her headscarf pulled off while walking her children to school. The racists shouted: "Rights for whites". A local police station had to assign female officers to escort children to Quranic classes. In another case, a white woman filed a complaint against her elderly Muslim neighbour for planting coriander instead of roses in her garden. When I asked if the woman had broken any tenancy rules or caused disturbance, the complainant said no, but insisted: "She's gotta learn to be like us. British." When Boris Johnson made his "letterbox" comment in 2018, several older Muslim women asked me if he owned a hairbrush, and said they'd gladly send him one if not. That same weekend, I was travelling with a group of women when a man let us board the train first. One of the women wearing a niqab was the last to get on. As she stepped through the doors, he laughed and said: 'Hold on, you forgot the letterbox.' He thought it was a joke, just quoting the former prime minister. This is the landscape Muslim women navigate: a Britain where our plants, our clothing, our languages and even our presence are subject to judgment. And still, we show up - as doctors, nurses, teachers, CEOs, activists, artists, engineers, journalists, scientists, academics, councillors, carers and community organisers. Because we believe in a Britain where Muslim women are trusted to define our own visibility - not questioned, not punished and not erased.
