Robin Swann MP: ‘Policing crisis should not be simply shrugged off as operational matter’

Inset: Robin Swann MP

Ulster Unionist MP Robin Swann has warned that the chronic underfunding of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is a political crisis that cannot be dismissed as a routine operational matter.

Speaking during a Westminster debate on police presence across the UK, Mr Swann drew attention to the stark reality facing frontline policing in Northern Ireland.

The debate followed the publication of a letter by police chiefs and government watchdogs in Great Britain to the Prime Minister, outlining deep concerns about the damaging impact of continued funding cuts to police forces.

Seizing the opportunity to highlight the challenges specific to Northern Ireland, the South Antrim MP referenced a letter from PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in August 2024.

“The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland wrote to the Prime Minister last August asking for more funding,” Mr Swann said. “And how His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary had recognised that in a recent report found that in their view the PSNI was 400 neighbourhood police officers short.”

Mr Swann made clear that the growing pressure on police services in Northern Ireland stems not from operational failings but from years of political decisions that have deprived the force of necessary funding.

“Such issues should not be shrugged off as operational matters,” he added, “but are the result of political decisions over the years that have resulted in less funding for our police service.”

Following the debate, Mr Swann doubled down on his concerns, sharply criticising both the Department of Justice and the wider political response to PSNI’s funding crisis.

“The steps that Chief Constable Boutcher has had to go to in an effort to keep the Police Service afloat should alarm us all,” he said. “The lack of political advocacy and cover afforded to him and the PSNI by the Justice Minister has demonstrated how badly our police service has been let down.”

“In April the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland made it clear that PSNI funding is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive,” Mr Swann continued.

“Too many pressures on our Police Service, and across the justice system, are being shrugged off as ‘operational matters’ and this is simply not sustainable.”

The MP’s remarks come in the wake of increasingly urgent warnings from within the force. Liam Kelly, Chair of the Police Federation of Northern Ireland, recently gave a stark assessment of the situation:

“Nobody in Government seems to care or give a damn” about police funding, Mr Kelly said, adding that the PSNI Recovery Plan “has been effectively shredded.”

Mr Swann’s intervention underscores the growing alarm among political and policing figures over what many see as a looming crisis in law enforcement capability in Northern Ireland.

With staffing levels, community safety, and officer wellbeing all under threat, calls for political accountability and immediate financial action are intensifying.