'This is not a pub quiz': Karen Bradley refuses to answer Piers Morgan's question about police cuts
Karen Bradley has been described as the "Tory Diane Abbott" after refusing to answer Piers Morgan when he asked her about police cuts in the wake of the London Bridge terror attack.
She said on Good Morning Britain "this is not a pub quiz" when asked whether there was a reduction of armed police on Britain's streets.
When asked whether police budgets had been slashed, she hit back by saying "I don't think it is fair to say there has been a slashing of anything".
However, she refused to give numbers or say whether there had been a reduction.
You wouldn't want Karen Bradley on your pub quiz team, would you? Jeez. @GMB
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 5, 2017
@piersmorgan Karen Bradley can't answer a simple question, it's no pub quiz it's people lives, she even smiled when refusing to answer, joke
— pricington (@pricey_035) June 5, 2017
@piersmorgan how disrespectful to call a decent good relevant question as a pub quiz I'm changing my vote completely out of touch
— Mark Hopkins (@chicodow) June 5, 2017
'I think it's about smart policing' - but Culture Sec Karen Bradley won't tell us whether the Government is promising more officers or not
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2017
Mr Morgan asked her whether Britain was "safer with fewer police".
She replied: "That is a very simplistic argument."
Later, on the Today programme, she did not fare much better.
Ms Bradley was referred to as the "Tory answer to Diane Abbott" as she answered questions on police cuts.
Karen Bradley seems to be the Tories' answer to Diane Abbott. Floundering badly on Today
— Patrick Kidd (@patrick_kidd) June 5, 2017
When asked whether numbers of police had fallen, she refused to answer multiple times.
Ms Bradley said: "We have been protecting counter-terrorism police budgets. We have more specialist officers, we are now in the process of recruiting an additional 1500 armed police officers."
She finally answered the question, saying "We've seen reductions in police numbers across the board."
The culture secretary blamed this on "difficult decisions made after 2010" and claimed there was "no money" to pay the officers.
She then criticised Jeremy Corbyn, saying: "It's not just about numbers, it's about powers, Jeremy Corbyn for 30 years has voted every single times about those powers. That's the choice we face.
"We have protecting counter-terrorism police budgets. We have more specialist officers, we are now in the process of recruiting an additional 1500 armed police officers."