Bethnal Green and Bow MP Rushanara Ali has condemned government cuts to policing as new figures show the government has cut over £1bn from the police since 2010, meaning 17% fewer police officers and PCSOs for Tower Hamlets.

Rushanara has consistently voiced her opposition in Parliament to the cuts being imposed by the Conservative-led Government and the Mayor of London to police services in Tower Hamlets, and as the Home Office released the police grant figures for 2013/14 it has now been confirmed that investment in police in falling to a three year low with over £1bn cut from police in England and Wales since the last election.

Rushanara said: "The Conservative-led Government's cuts to policing have resulted in the lowerst number of police officers in England and Wales for over a decade. It is extremely worrying that thanks to this Government's cuts to policing we now have 163 fewer police officers and PCSOs in Tower Hamlets at a time when crime is increasing across the Borough.

"Tower Hamlets has suffered a dramatic 9% increase in crime since this Government came to power, following six successive years of falling crime under the previous Labour Government. This Government's reduction in frontline police puts our communities at risk with fewer frontline officers, fewer officers responding to 999 calls and less visible police.

"These huge cuts to policing are also making it harder for the police to catch criminals and deliver justive. 30,000 fewer crimes were solved under this Government in the last year, including 7,000 crimes of violence against the person.

"I know Tower Hamlets police are trying their hardest to deal with challenging crime issues, but due to the current Government's cuts thousands of victims are being denied justice with thousands more criminals getting away with it, so this Government needs to urgently rethink next year's police budget cuts and stop letting our communities down."

The full text from Rushara's speech in Parliament during the debate on the future of the Metropolitan Police, which took place on Wednesday 6th February 2013, can be found here.