Regional leaders criticise Met chief’s call for merging of 43 forces into eight or 10, saying it runs counter to devolution drive Plans to slash the number of police forces in England and Wales represent a “real threat” to local policing and seriously undermine Andy Burnham’s devolution agenda, leading mayors have said. Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan police commissioner and Britain’s top officer, called on Friday for the 43 forces of England and Wales to be cut to “eight to 10” super forces. Continue reading...
‘Super-force’ plans a real threat to local policing, English mayors say

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Reform UK councillor promoted collapsed $1.9bn ‘Ponzi scheme’ HyperVerse that left victims suicidal
Susan Lawrence, elected to Wolverhampton city council, sits on committee overseeing financial reporting of multimillion-pound budget A woman who promoted a notorious cryptocurrency scam has been elected as a Reform UK councillor and now sits on the audit and risk committee of a major city council. Susan Lawrence was one of the main UK promoters of the HyperVerse cryptocurrency scheme, which was named in US court documents as an alleged “pyramid and Ponzi scheme” that cheated investors worldwide out of a “staggering” $1.89bn (£1.41bn). Continue reading...

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