Conservative manifesto fact checked

The website fullfact.org have an article fact checking the Conservative manifesto. Along with the 50,000 extra nurses that turned out to be not true they also reveal more about what getting Brexit done actually means and the real figures behind the extra 20,000 police officers, which turns out to be less than there were in 2010.

The Conservative manifesto also repeated the pledge, previously announced by the party that they would be “putting 20,000 more officers on the streets”. This would return the number of police officers to almost, but not quite, the total in 2010.

Between 2010 and 2019, the number of police officers in England and Wales fell by 20,752, a reduction of 14%.This figure represents the number of full-time equivalent police officers (including secondments, but excluding the British Transport Police).

But because the country’s population has grown since 2010, the number of police officers per person has fallen by 19%.

All else remaining the same, recruiting another 20,000 police officers (assuming they were full-time) would leave the number of police officers per person 8% lower than it was in 2010, factoring in projected population increase and the government’s recruitment timetable.

https://fullfact.org/election-2019/conservative-manifesto-2019/