The Home Office has today confirmed the officer recruitment targets for every police force in England and Wales for the first year of the unprecedented drive to increase their ranks by 20,000 over the next three years.
Picture this scene. There’s a semi-secret political group in Manchester whose meetings can not be made public for fear of reprisal. You are unlikely to find a poster in support of them in any window across the city and they struggle to find candidates who campaign or distribute any leaflets.