Kay Burley stops minister in his tracks with one simple fact

Kay Burley left a minister licking his wounds after she stopped him in his tracks with one simple fact.

Health minister Neil O'Brien appeared on the presenter's Sky News show on Thursday to defend the government's record on crime and policing.

The minister said the government had hired 20,000 extra police "ahead of schedule" and had ended the early release of prisoners so fewer people re-offend.

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He added they are investing in "the causes of crime" too.

Sounds good? Perhaps not.

In her classic deaspan style, Burley delivered a fact that O'Brien could not deny.

"We don't need to go into the fact that you cut more than 20,000 odd police officers so you're just going back to what you were previously," she said.

Fair point. Data released by the Home Office showed there were 142,759 police officers in England and Wales in June 2022 compared with 143,734 in March 2011.

There are now 235 police officers per 100,000 people compared with 264 in 2011, a real-terms reduction in the number of officers over the decade of 11 per cent.

O'Brien isn't sounding so impressive now.

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