On Monday, 15th October I along with about 100 other guests – including the Home Secretary, other MPs and Lords – attended a parliamentary reception to honour police officers and police staff who have been killed on duty.
There is a proposal for the names of over 1,400 police officers and police staff who have been killed on duty to be inscribed on a physical memorial to be built at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, while a further 4,000 names of those who have died on duty will be remembered. The event I attended was in support of that proposal.
It is important our Police are properly protected whilst on duty. The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act was passed last month. This Act has doubled the maximum sentence from 6 to 12 months in prison for common assault on an emergency worker (which covers police, prison officers, fire service personnel, paramedics and more). I was pleased to see the Act gain cross-party support in recognition of the debt of gratitude that we all owe to these tremendous men and women.
