LONDON — Lucy Rigby, chief secretary to the Treasury, stated in an interview that allegations of two-tier policing constitute a slur on law enforcement personnel. Rigby said this refers to thousands of police officers.
Rigby stated that the suggestion implies police are systemically prioritizing the interests of one group over another. She characterized this as a slur on police officers who serve the country daily to prevent crime and keep the public safe. She also mentioned that officers put themselves in harm's way. Keir Starmer said he does not accept that the United Kingdom has two-tier policing.
"Fundamentally, I think that is a slur on the thousands of police officers that go out to work every day, putting themselves in harm's way to serve the public, to try and prevent crime, and to keep us all safe. The suggestion that we have two-tier policing, which suggests at its heart that the police are on a sort of systemic basis pushing the interests of one group above another – I genuinely think is a slur on all those police officers that are serving this country day and night, seven days a week."