Brown lays down policing challenge
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will urge local authorities to ensure that funding for the police is protected from spending cuts as the main parties continue to gear up for a general election.
In a keynote speech on law and order, Mr Brown will tell councils and police authorities that ensuring their streets are safe must be a top priority.
Buoyed by one opinion poll showing that the Tories' lead over Labour has been cut to just two points, he will also launch a fresh attack on Conservative leader David Cameron over his claim that Britain is a "broken society".
In his speech, Mr Brown will underline the commitment in the Pre-Budget Report to protect central government funding for frontline policing, and will urge local authorities to do the same.
"My challenge to local authorities and police authorities around the country is to match our commitment to protecting frontline policing - or else explain to their communities why they are not prepared to do so, and explain what else is more important than keeping their streets safe," he is expected to say.
Mr Brown will also call on the police to ensure that new national standards for forces are adhered to and that the public can see that performance targets are met.
While the Prime Minister will acknowledge that more needs to be done to tackle crime and disorder, he will also point to the achievements under Labour, with overall crime levels down by a third since 1997 and in comments clearly aimed at David Cameron, he will attack those who "talk down" the country.
"We never accept the simplistic and defeatist argument that our communities are 'broken'. A society in which not just crime and anti-social behaviour but also child poverty, illiteracy, and ill health have all fallen cannot be called a broken society.
"I know there are problems, but I also know that there is nothing bad in Britain that cannot be fixed by what is good in Britain."
Mr Brown's speech is due to be followed by a ministerial summit looking at specific measures to tackle anti-social behaviour.
