This page is where we invite you, our members and readers to comment upon the web site's content  and ask any questions on policing/Federation issues you may have.  As you can appreciate being a public site some editorial control is needed to protect the IBB. So we cannot grant free writing access but I will respond to any comments sent to myopinion@polfed.org for inclusion and will try to use as many as possible on this page.

•  An A C/I from West London in response to the announcement of a Police Pay Review body editorial says 

If they want to consult, lets bury them in paper which they have to at least acknowledge. Lets push for every police officer in the country to query every single line of their proposals Could they possibly deal correctly with such an avalanche in the timescale set.

Mark Crake's response 'Sadly experience has proved that this suggestion is easier said than done! You will recall that to coincide with the rally we tried to encourage every member of PFEW to write to their own MP. Despite repeating the plea several times only 8000 did as we had asked. Some MP's reportedly commented that the 8000 was one of the largest mailbox's they had ever recieved. If thats true what would they have thought had all 140,000 written in?'

• A DI from Bromley in response to the announcement of a Police Pay Review body editorial says 

I have always felt that negotiation was the civilised way in which to move forward. I have been opposed to Striking for anyone in any role that directly affects the well-being of the general public. However this does not mean that I would disagree with all Industrial Action. We can not just give up all our employee rights because it is the wish of the Government and it would make their life easier.
In order to achieve the balance between public service and rights as employees we should work only the hours that we were contracted to do and to achieve the reduction in work load we should stop doing things that did not directly relate to preventing Crime, detecting crime and keeping the Queen peace.
In effect, without worrying about 'sanctioned detections' and ticking boxes and counting of beans. Not writing hundreds of pages of reports, but just doing the job we love.

This is the type of industrial action I feel I could support.

Mark Crake's response ' We have been at pains to point out throughout this campaign that the term 'Industrial rights' embraces a wide range of options and that the withdrawal of labour is at the extremity of that range. I agree that striking is a particularly unpalatable option and not one that should be counternanced lightly. I do though think that we need increased rights because it is clear that  our current arrangements no longer afford us adequate protection.'

• An Inspector from ESB in response to the announcement of a Police Pay Review body editorial says 

We have got to make a stand. A line in the sand has been drawn by the Fed and the Govt. have said 'so what'. I support decision to support lobby for change in legislation

Good luck

• An Inspector from CO11 in response to the news that a failure to agree has been registered says

The JEC circular is talking about going to arbitration again. What would be the point? Why are we bothering again?
 
What is happening with the idea of getting the right to take industrial action?

Mark Crake's response " I think our new front page 'Sick as a parrot' says it all. I think we need clarity now from our lead negotiators as to when and how they intend to progress this option.

•  A Inspector from CO18 in response to the front page article entitled " The Fight must go on" says 

Binding arbitration has clearly been kicked into touch. The Home Secretary will not go back on the decision she has made and so we should now be pushing for full industrial rights. The "Level playing field claim" is a waste of time. Police officers always try to be reasonable and this is a failing in this case. The Home Secretary was right, the police will not fight for their rights. Nothing ever appears in the press these days and as far as the public are concerned, we've rolled over and given up. Would Bob Crowe be so meek? We need to push for industrial rights now and let everyone know that we are doing so. Keep the pressure up on the government, especially at this time when they are under pressure from other sectors. Don't let them off the hook.

Mark Crake's response " As with the previously posted comment (immediately below) I can well understand the frustrations being expressed here and I do assure members that the thrust of their point is not lost on me. I continue to impress upon our negotiators the view that it is time to actively move onto the fight to try and achieve greater industrial muscle.

• A Inspector from EK in response to the front page article entitled " The Fight must go on" says 

I have just read the comments placed on the metibb website by Mark Crake concerning our continuing fight for fair pay.
 
The last paragraph - I quote
“Last month at the Police Federation conference we announced the results of a poll of police officers in England and Wales. The result gives the Police Federation of England and Wales a mandate to lobby the government for full industrial rights for police officers if arbitration is not binding. This is a route we do not want to go down but one we will follow if the government continues to turn a blind eye to our fair and reasonable request for binding arbitration."
 
Uh, excuse me, but why are we saying we wont go down the route of lobbying for industrial rights if the government continues to turn a blind eye ????????
 
They already have!!,
 
I (and many others) voted to go down this route now, and do not wish to give the government another chance to turn another blind eye.
 
Perhaps I should get part of the missing pay rise by not paying fed subscriptions??

Mark Crake replies " I fully understand the sense of anger and frustration that is apparent in this correspondents comment. I too believe that this government have been given more than ample opportunity to show 'goodwill' and that the time has now come to move on the mandate given by our members in relation to seeking increased industrial rights. I have already and shall continue to emphasise this view to those negotiating on our behalf. However we need to be cogniscent of the fact that such a path is unlikely to lead to a speedy resolution nor does it by any means guarantee success.

On the issue of Federation subscriptions it is important to note that only a small percentage of subscriptions is being spent on this issue. By far and away the largest proportion of our subscriptions are used to make up the so called 'voluntary fund' through which our members access legal advice often at times when they need that help most! Federation membership also allows access to the Federation Group insurance schemes. However the Federation does not operate on a 'closed shop' basis and whilst I am not encouraging it, each member is entitled to make a personal judgement on whether the £17.03 (taxable) presents greater value in their pocket than the £17.03 (tax free) which they pay to be a subscribing member of the PFEW with all the privilages that attracts.

• A DI from SCD in response to the front page article entitled " The Fight must go on" says 

When writing to MP's it should be pointed out to them that not only Police Officers are voters, their wives, sons, daughters, parents, grandparents and the wider family are all voters. This has had a big effect on Police Officers families who are all well aware of the issues and how this Government has let us down.
If there is one thing that makes an MP listen and that is the thought of losing votes at the next election and, boy, they are going to need every single one of them.
Good luck in the campaign, we are all right behind you with our support

Mark Crake replies " Whilst I appreciate that many would have done it previously we would encourage all our members to write back to their MP's as part of this campaign. We can supply a template letter if required but I believe it would be better if each officer could personalise the issues."

• A DI from BS in response to the front page article entitled " The Fight must go on" says 

As the Police Federation has such support from all ranks to lobby parliament for full industrial rights, then even if it isn't the path they want to tread (neither do I for that matter) then it is one they will have to, or give up any future fight for any sort of fair play from an incompetent and double dealing Home Secretary, who has overtly failed to display any integrity or loyalty to the Police Service, either now or in the past.
I agree that it isn't in our interests to spend a fortune challenging the Home Secretaries disgraceful betrayal of us all, as only the lawyers would benefit and if Senior Judges have already ruled against us, The House of Lords will surely back them.
No Police Officer wants to strike but given the disdain shown towards the Service by the Home Secretary and The Prime Minister (her 'handler') it appears inevitable.

Mark Crake replies " Thanks for your comments. I suspect you are not alone in your sentiments"

What follows are a few of the printable opinions that have been received and their comments speak for themselves.  I am grateful to all those who take their time to write to us and will try to print their views. 

• An Insp from the Football Planning unit says 

With inflation at a 16 year high of 5.2% does 2.6% over three years really sound like a good result.  Adding in the extremely volatile financial crisis I hope the federation have left plenty of room to renegotiate, baring in mind the NHS were almost immediately caught out with their three year deal. Fingers crossed!

• Insp Anon

My view - All things considered not a bad deal. We have to be realistic on this one. The country, and indeed the rest of the world (for whatever reasons) is on it's financial backside at the moment. I know we were well and truly had over last year, and the deal achieved will undoubtedly be below the rate of inflation. On the plus side however, both our jobs and pensions are safe. How many people in the country can say that at the moment? It would be complete lunacy for us to try and appear upset about this deal and take any form of industrial action. We wouldn't win and the chances of us getting or retaining any form of public support would be absolute zero. They would undoubtedly see us as being nothing more than a bunch of greedy opportunists. Although I would like to return to the 10% per annum days of the early 80's pay rises, I'm not holding my breath. I therefore have to say that, in my view, whoever negotiated this deal has done the best for us, and let’s be honest, the country as a whole. In times of austerity and difficulty it is more important than ever for the public to know that there is stability in the institutions they rely on. 

• An Islington Insp says

Having just recovered from the unexpected announcement about the agreement of the pay settlement. More and more questions spring to mind about the manner in which this agreement has been settled and announced.

1. Any suggestion that we are all satisfied with this settlement is nonsensical. Many of my colleagues feel that this is only being accepted because we have no other option - not because we are pleased with the offer. Our police staff colleagues are being urged to refuse their current offer of 2.65% and remember they had a bigger award than us last year - the benefits of proper employment rights.

2. What is happening about our struggle to secure binding arbitration? I feel this deal was only accepted under duress, in that ultimately we are always going to get what the Home Secretary deems politically expedient for us to receive and this was the only offer out there. We need to fight to ensure that never again can we be left so powerless in pay negotiations, 2007 is not forgotten or forgiven.

3. Why has the Home Secretary seen fit to offer us this deal so close to the 21st October arbitration date?

• An Insp from Ilford says;

I have to say that I was really disappointed in the pay deal and felt badly let down by the Federation.
However; I've just read the article on the recent deal on the front of the website. This is well written/balanced and sets out the current situation in common sense terms.

• An Insp from Chingford says;

"To say I feel very let down by the Federation in this matter is putting it very mildly. The economic forecasters used by the Federation have thus far been proven to be incorrect and taken any future economic forecasting on the status quo that the country was in 6 to 8 months ago. Not the depression that we are currently in and likely to remainfor the next several years.