The threat to Hackney police and fire stations is a hammer blow

15 Jan 2013
Diane Abbott MP, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington responds to the news that Kingsland fire station and Hackney police station is closing:

‘This is a hammer blow. These closures will be extremely worrying for people in Hackney because it clearly puts public safety at risk. I will be making my concerns very clear to the government, because we’re seeing people in Hackney pay the price for this government’s badly thought-out cuts to frontline services.

‘Hackney is one of the victims of the way this government is ripping into frontline policing. Although this police station was outdated, underused and needed development, the focus should in Hackney should be on cutting crime and building better relations with the local community, not cutting police stations like this.

‘In terms of the closure of Kingsland fire station, I fear that we’ll see civilian casualties rise, firefighter injuries go up and arson incidents increase. Ministers have unfairly distributed cuts so areas like Hackney and those with the highest incident rates are being hit the hardest. Yet the Tory-led Government is planning even deeper cuts for the next two years that will put even more lives and our national resilience at risk.’

--ENDS—

For more information, please contact Gabe Trodd on 0207 219 4426


back ⇢