“Privatisation delivers results – for company shareholders,” UNISON member Katrina Gilman told the Labour party conference in Manchester today.
She was speaking out against the government’s plans to transfer police staff to the private sector, which she decried as “public money for private profit”.
Ms Gilman added: “Privatisation delivers results for company shareholders by driving down staffing levels and reducing pay and conditions. It really is that simple.”
She was joined in condemnation of the government’s plans by Jane Basham, Labour’s Suffolk candidate for the police and crime commissioner elections on 15 November, who told conference that “people profiting from crime feels morally wrong.”
And Merseyside candidate Jane Kennedy declared: “UNISON, we can assure you we stand united against police privatisation.”
Ms Gilman called on all conference delegates to “support UNISON’s Stop Police Privatisation campaign, support UNISON’s call for an independent inquiry into privatisation, support our police staff, and keep officers on the beat.”