Met Police face 'hard choices' over terror and funding issues - Cressida Dick

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has warned police are facing "hard choices" as the rapidly increasing cost of dealing with terrorism takes up more and more of their budgets.

One week on from the Parsons Green bombing, an incident which, she said "could have been much worse", Ms Dick echoed comments by Sara Thornton, the chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, that the UK's counterterrorism effort is putting "extra strain" on policing.

Ms Dick told LBC: "I think the point Sara is trying to make is that within the budget envelope we have at the moment, which is putting a huge strain on policing, we'd have to make hard choices in the future.

"We are already feeling some strain, we've got some tired people. They are very focused, they are highly motivated, they desperately want to stop the attacks, but it is putting a strain on the system.

"We've also got emergency calls going up... we've got crime going up nationally, indeed in London over the last year, 18 months violent crime is a particular problem.

"It is putting a huge strain on the system, and Sara and I and others are engaged in a conversation with Government about our funding."

She described the bomb at Parsons Green, southwest London, as "a very, very dangerous bomb".

"It partially detonated, it had a large quantity of explosive and it was packed with shrapnel. It could have been so much worse," she said.

This year has seen five terror attacks in the UK, killing 36 people, including 22 at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in May.

Authorities say they have foiled 19 terror plots since the middle of 2013, and the Met Commissioner revealed officers had foiled six terror attack attempts within the last several months "within minutes".

Ministers say counterterrorism funding is increasing by £3.4bn, while the Home Secretary has promised an extra £24m, in addition to £707m already allocated for 2017.

But Ms Dick claimed that the overall picture was one of less, rather than more money, saying: "We're very grateful for the £24m that has been announced. That will help with the extra costs of this year's attacks. Over the next few years, because of the way our budget is profiled, counter terrorism police budgets will be decreasing, not increasing."