Labour told to up police funding and stop 'moving chairs on the Titanic'

The MP for Huntingdon says Labour's approach to policing is akin to "moving chairs on the Titanic" as he urged for increases to funding. Conservative Ben Obese-Jecty said he was concerned Saturday's knife attack on the LNER train just outside Huntingdon could have been "prevented" if Cambridgeshire Police had "more resources available".

Suspect Anthony Williams, 32, of no fixed abode, was remanded into custody at Peterborough Magistrates' Court on Monday charged with 10 counts of attempted murder over the train incident. Police say Williams is being linked to three other earlier incidents, including the stabbing of a 14-year-old boy in Peterborough, with investigations ongoing. Mr Obese-Jecty said his repeated calls over the past year for updates to how police forces are funded have "fallen on deaf ears".

He said the police allocation formula, which uses a range of data, including population figures from 2011, is "unfair", particularly on Cambridgeshire.

The MP said Cambridgeshire is the fourth-worst funded police force in England and Wales, despite being the fastest growing county.

Mr Obese-Jecty told the Express: "It is all the more impressive that this incident [the train attack] was handled within eight minutes of the 999 call going in, given that this is a force which is under-resourced and one that effectively is making do with having a distinct lack of resources, personnel, manpower."

He claimed ministers essentially told him it was "too complicated" to adjust the funding formula.

Mr Obese-Jecty said he is "very proud" of Cambridgeshire Police's response to the attack on the train from Doncaster to London's King's Cross on Saturday evening.

The force has commissioned an internal review into events in the lead-up to a mass stabbing on the high-speed service which was diverted to Huntingdon station.

LNER worker Samir Zitouni who was seriously injured while trying to protect passengers on the train has been hailed as a hero.

The 48-year-old reportedly fought off the attacker with a frying pan, with police saying he "undoubtedly saved many people's lives".

He remains in hospital in a stable but "critically unwell" condition after suffering stab wounds during the incident, according to the latest update from British Transport Police.

Labour wants to put 13,000 more officers into neighbourhood policing roles by 2029, with 3,000 by March next year.

Former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper suggested 3,000 would be new recruits, with another 3,000 redeployed from other roles.

Mr Obese-Jecty expressed concerns over the plans, saying: "These are numbers picked out of thin air and there doesn't seem to be any rationale behind how they would be created.

"That to me is a worry because they tell everyone they've recruited more police officers and that everyone's safer and actually they're just robbing Peter to pay Paul and getting people to move the chairs around the Titanic."

"It is disingenuous, I think."

He said the Government must "restore faith in policing" and "stump up and spend the money required".

Williams is also charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article in connection to the Huntingdon incident.

Separately, he is charged with one count of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article over an incident at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London in the early hours of Saturday, where a victim suffered facial injuries after being attacked with a knife.

He is next due to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on December 1.