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Jeremy Corbyn Backs Call For Theresa May To Resign After London Terror Attack

Jeremy Corbyn Backs Call For Theresa May To Resign After London Terror Attack

Cites responsibility of police cuts.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said that he would back calls for Prime Minister Theresa May to resign over the London Bridge terror attack.

Seven people were killed and 49 injured on Saturday in the third terror attack in four months in the UK.

Speaking to ITV's Rachel Younger, Corbyn said: "Indeed I would [back calls for May's resignation], because there's been calls made by a lot of very responsible people on this who are very worried that she was at the Home Office for all this time, presided over these cuts in police numbers and is now saying that we have a problem - yes, we do have a problem, we should never have cut the police numbers."


Corbyn is referring to former senior aide to David Cameron Steve Hilton, who is the former Downing Street director of Strategy. He has claimed that May was 'responsible' for the attack and called for her to resign rather than seek re-election.

In her tenure as Home Secretary in 2010 prior to becoming Prime Minister in 2016, May made cuts to police budget by 18 percent.

When the terror attacks in France in April last year occurred, former PM Cameron re-thought the Tory position on police cuts but May's position as Home Secretary meant that cuts still took place.

In the last seven years, 20,000 police officer jobs have been cut.

Four months ago, Metropolitan Police Chief, Outgoing Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe criticised austerity before retiring.

"The bottom line is there will be less cops," he told LBC radio. "There is only so much you can cut and make efficiencies and then you've got to have less police and I'm not sure that's wise in this city."

Corbyn has said that the responsibility of the attacks lies with the perpetrators and said that Labour would bring back police jobs immediately if they were to win the General Election on Thursday.

"The primary responsibility for this lies with those who did it, they killed people in cold blood in a disgusting and appalling way and there's no words other than total condemnation," he told ITV.

"On the issues of policing - the Government has been warned repeatedly about police cuts, and the Police Federation and many others [have said] how 20,000 have gone down over the past seven years.

"We've said we'd put 10,000 back immediately and also increase the number of security officers that are available, because clearly intelligence is a very important part of this.

"It's also very important to have a message of bringing communities together and that is something I always give very strongly at all of my events."

Source: ITV, The Guardian

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: Jeremy Corbyn