Proposals by Boris Johnson to reinstate some 20,000 police officer roles previously cut by the Tories and Lib Dems have been "exposed as a scam on Southport and Merseyside" it's been claimed, after new figures released today.


The Prime Minister has said he will reintroduce the policing posts after nearly a decade of cuts, which has seen crime rocket across the country.


New figures released today though show that even if he made good on his word, over half of police forces would still be shy of their 2010 levels, with many forces hundreds of officers short. Merseyside would be one of the worst affected with up to 687 of the previous posts not being replaced.


Southport's Labour Parliamentary Candidate says it is yet another example of how the Conservatives cannot get to grips with crime:


"For many years now we have suffered the effects of Tory and Lib Dem police cuts across the country. Both here in Southport and across Merseyside officer numbers have fallen dramatically and many local residents tell me they do not feel as safe anymore."


"Boris Johnson then tries to pretend he took no part in the previous decisions and as we are coming into an election likes to give the impression he can wave his wand and these officers will suddenly reappear. This new analysis though has exposed it as a scam on Southport and Merseyside and other areas across the country."


Opponents say the problem lies with the outdated funding formula the government today confirmed it will be using, which has previously been described by its own policing minister as "manifestly unfair" and subject to "constant complaints".


Surrey, for instance, which has only had a net reduction of eight officers since 2010, will be able to recruit as many as 260 officers, while major metropolitan areas dealing with surging violence and knife crime – such as Merseyside, Manchester and the West Midlands – will still be far short of the officer levels they had in 2010.


The analysis released by Labour shows that on a likely scenario of around two-thirds of the officers being allocated territorially, Merseyside Police will still be 687 officers short of its 2010-11 allocation and that even if 100% of the proposed officers were, Merseyside would still be 454 officers down.


For Liz Savage it means Southport will still suffer from a lack of officers:


"There's no guarantee as yet that any of these plans will come to fruition and little explanation of where the money is coming from. Indeed, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and investment bank Citi have just released a report saying that Jeremy Corbyn's plans are far more preferable for the economy than Boris Johnson's."


"Putting the wider funding concern aside though, what is clear is that even if the money comes forward - how it will be allocated will again leave our police force disadvantaged."


"Don't forget Southport's Tory MP was one of those who voted for the police cuts, then in an effort to deflect he complained about lack of police here!"


"Now, they are attempting another misdirection by claiming that this overall loss of some 454-687 officers in our police force is somehow a Tory policing success? I don't think local residents will be feeling safer at night any time soon though."

'New figure released today' - who has released them? Who conducted the study? Where can they be found?