Finally! Some 'pledges' from Anthony Stansfeld

On Cllr Stansfeld's website, a modicum of a manifesto has been published. At last. This is what he says:

If elected as the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Anthony pledges:

• To maintain the balance between urban and rural policing.
• To ensure that the Police budget is targeted effectively.
• To protect vulnerable people.
• To ensure the Police act firmly and fairly, using good judgement to deal with the public politely, gaining their respect and acting with integrity.

That is it by the way apart from some blurb about him (again) at the top of the page which I can't be bothered to reproduce.

So. What do you think then? Are you persuaded? Let's unpick these pledges one by one.

First though: pledge - really? You mean like this pledge?

Aside from showing a degree of naivety in using this phrase (perhaps he really isn't a politician after all - maybe that is the hidden message...), he cannot actually make at least two of these pledges as they are not in his power:

To protect vulnerable people. How will the PCC do that exactly? Does the police service not do this already? Can he define 'vulnerable'? What does he mean by 'protect'? From whom? The PCC? Will he protect police service staff who are vulnerable to privatisation?

To ensure the Police act firmly and fairly, using good judgement to deal with the public politely, gaining their respect and acting with integrity. Again how exactly? Is he saying that they don't act with good judgement at the moment? And how is he going to 'ensure' they act with integrity? Really, how is he going to 'ensure' this?

To ensure that the Police budget is targeted effectively. Well, we all want that do we not? But then he kind of shoots himself in the foot by the previous pledge: To maintain the balance between urban and rural policing. So he is maintaining something he wants to target effectively. How does that work exactly? Sounds to me that he wants his cake and eat it.

So we have been waiting some time for even the hint of a manifesto from Cllr Stansfeld. And we get these four pledges all at the same time. I think I will go back to waiting for a bus...

Oops! I almost forgot his first pledge: To reduce crime and drive up detection rates.

Wow! Can someone get me a feather to knock me down with: the laser focused preciseness of this pledge is frankly overwhelming. So that is FIVE pledges.... I am comforted now... he really does know what he will be doing...