The head of Greater Manchester police has said his force is under “real strain” as a result of major cuts.
Ian Hopkins, the chief constable of GMP, made the remarks three weeks after the Manchester Arena bombing in which 22 were killed and more than 200 injured.
He was backed up by Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who said he was writing to the prime minister to say that the force was operating at its limits “and probably beyond them”.
Late on Sunday, after 400 officers had been called to clashes in the city centre between anti-Islam and anti-fascist activists, and hundreds more had been policing the Parklife music festival, Hopkins tweeted: “Outstanding from @gmpolice officers & staff this w/e policing protest and Parklife. Real strain on everyone not just this weekend..see below.”
He pasted a table showing planned changes in full-time equivalent GMP officers, staff and police community support officers from 2010 to 2020. The figures showed that by March 2020 the force would have 24% fewer employees than March 2010: a bigger cut than the average for England and Wales.
