Police stand guard outside London Bridge. Photo: PA

On Monday, Theresa May hit a bump in the road. In a speech delivered in Whitehall, at the Royal United Services Institute, the Prime Minister covered the economy, Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn’s many shortcomings, before—eventually—coming to the issue of security. 

“Safeguarding the security of our country takes leadership,” said May to a crowd of applauding party officials. “That is why since 2010, in the face of a growing threat, we have protected the budget for counter-terrorism policing—and increased the resources available to the security and intelligence agencies.”

Faced with the third terrorist attack in Britain in as many months, the PM said she was determined to “make sure the police and security services have all the powers they need.”

And when the speech was finished and the applause had died down, May said she would take questions. One issue came up repeatedly—police cuts. Journalists took in in turns to put the same question to May: “since 2010, police numbers have been cut by 20,000. Was that a mistake? 

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