Yvette Cooper has been told to step in to block the impending sacking of almost 2,000 Met Police officers as London battles a street crime crisis.
Some 1,700 officers, staff and community support officers are set to face the chop with the Met facing down a £260million hole in its budget for the coming year.
Despite receiving additional funding from both central Government and the Mayor of London, the force warns it has been forced into making "substantial tough choices".
And now, the Home Secretary has been subjected to a formal plea to prevent the cuts to frontline services from City Hall crime committee chairwoman Susan Hall - who also accused Sadiq Khan of "faffing around with vanity projects" instead of taking action.
The Home Secretary has been subjected to a formal plea to prevent the cuts to frontline services
PA
"The Labour Party manifesto upon which the Government was elected promised to 'take back the streets' by recruiting thousands of police officers," Hall's open letter to Cooper blasts.
"The Mayor himself was also elected on a manifesto commitment to recruit 1,300 more police officers over this term.
"Leaving the Met without £260million of essential funding, alongside a reduction in the number of police officers, would evidently make the manifesto commitments you made as Shadow Home Secretary undeliverable in London.
"With the Mayor having so clearly failed both Londoners and the Met, I am asking you as Home Secretary to step in and intervene to prevent these cuts to frontline services."
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Susan Hall has demanded that the Home Secretary step in
PAMeanwhile, the Mayor blamed the funding crisis on the previous Government.
He said the Met had been left "chronically underfunded" by the Tories - while cuts to policing in London were the real-term equivalent to more than £1.1billion.
And the force itself warned that the cuts had left its officers facing down an "extraordinary stretch".
A Met spokesman said: "We are very grateful for the additional funding we have received from the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) and the Home Office.
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Sadiq Khan blamed the funding crisis on the previous Government
PA"While this new funding decreases our original funding gap from £450million, it leaves us with a £260million shortfall and we will have to make substantial tough choices, reducing our size by over 1,700 officers, staff and PCSOs and therefore our services.
"This places an extraordinary stretch on our dedicated men and women. The Commissioner is incredibly grateful and humbled by what they achieve with increased demand and a rapidly shrinking Met.
"Over the coming months, we will be working with the Home Office, Mayor and Mopac through the Spending Review to put the Met on a financial footing which enables a sustainable workforce plan."
GB News has approached the Home Office for comment.
