The police are unconvinced by Boris Johnson’s pledge for more officers. You can’t blame them

Editorial: Austerity has ruined what used to be a fruitful relationship between the Tories and the thin blue line

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It is in the nature of those at the top of our public services to complain about lack of resources. Indeed, it is an important role for them as no one else will do it so expertly or with such authority.

So when senior figures in policing warn, as they now do, that the government’s plans to boost policing numbers are inadequate and insufficient to the task, it might in the past have been easy to simply dismiss them.

No longer. Policing in Britain is in crisis, and a politically driven target for recruiting police officers is unlikely to solve it.