a) any given level of Met policing pre Boris is ipso facto good therefore b) cuts in that number are damaging to …what (public safety, crime levels, perceptions of good order)?
Doing tactical politics is fine – eg holding Boris actions up against statements and promises. But there’s a question also of evidence, about the relationship between policing and social benefits (wellbeing, offences etc), and it’s complex and ambiguous. It certainly doesn’t support any straightforward connexion between police strength and crime, for example. And then there’s the matter of distinguishing between crimes. Say we traded off constables against tax inspectors’ assistants – where would a left of centre calculus lead us? We can’t be defend a numerical status quo for the Met…