Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to the Government’s Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, said:

“Serious and organised crime blights communities and destroys lives. A comprehensive and detailed strategy to combat it would be very welcome but unfortunately what the Government offers is not that.

“Organised crime requires a highly co-ordinated international response and relies on significant resources and staffing, yet the Government has cut 21,000 police officers and there was nothing in the Budget to reverse that.

“This is a record of failure and a consequence of Tory cuts. Labour takes serious and organised crime seriously, and will provide increased resources and officers to tackle it.”