Minister heralds ‘record ever’ police numbers as new consultation on banning machetes announced

The policing minister Chris Philip today made a ministerial statement to the commons to announce a new consultation on proposals to tackle the use of machetes and other bladed articles in crime.

Mr Philp said: “We are recruiting thousands more officers. We’ll get the figures next week, but we confidently expect those figures to confirm we have record ever numbers of police officers in England and Wales, something I’m sure members across the House will very strongly will very strongly be welcoming”.