Labour MP Jonathan Hinder blasted the ‘rotten’ leadership of the Police Federation as he called for officers to be allowed to join other bodies – recounding his experiences on the frontline
A former police officer MP has launched a blistering attack on the “rotten” leadership of the body that represents rank-and-file officers.
Labour’s Jonathan Hinder gave a harrowing account of his years on the frontline as he warned officers are being let down by the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW). The professional association was rocked by the arrest of chief executive Mukund Krishna as part of a fraud investigation last month.
And it faced anger after it emerged that Mr Krishna had earned £1.4million over two years in salary and bonuses. Mr Hinder told MPs that police must be given the option to join other organisations, and policing minister Sarah Jones said the Government is ready to do the “right thing”.
Mr Hinder said: “In my time in policing, I was the first to arrive at a triple homicide scene. It was a mother who killed her own three children. I saw people take their last breaths on earth at road accidents.
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“I pulled a suicidal man down from a road bridge. I knocked on people’s door to tell them that their loved ones had passed away. I was called to mentally ill people self-harming down to the bone with a razor.
“I was spat at by the people I was arresting and of course subject to the most disgusting verbal abuse inside the police station from the people I was looking after in custody. This is the reality of policing. If only it were just about catching criminals.”
He described policing as a “thankless job”, and warned that many of the Federation’s 140,000 members only pay their subs because of the “monopoly and fear” of not being represented.
Mr Hinder said: “I do not diminish the work of those individuals in supporting individual police officers at their time of need, but I’m afraid the national leadership of the Police Federation is rotten. It is not right that 140,000 frontline officers have to pay their subscriptions and put up with this, because it’s the only staff association that they are legally allowed to join.
“Over the last two years, the unelected chief executive of the Police Federation has paid himself £1.4 million in salary and bonuses, and it’s paid through police officers’ wages through their monthly subscriptions.
“This fact alone is shocking, but this is the culmination of years of failure.” He went on: “A transformed federation is the best way to deliver effective representation, but I’m afraid officers have heard it all before, and I daresay they will hear it again unless radical action is taken.
“And it’s because of this repeated systemic and cultural failure that I have come to the conclusion that only if police officers are given the freedom to establish and join an alternative will they get the representation they need and deserve.”
In response to Mr Hinder’s plea, Home Office minister Ms Jones assured MPs: “I don’t think anyone can pretend that the status quo is an option. It isn’t an option.
“This Government stands ready to do the right thing.” In a statement to members, the Federation’s chairwoman, Tiff Lynch, said: “I will not pretend this has been anything other than a difficult period for the Federation.”
In 2023 an employment tribunal found it had discriminated against officers who had previously made claims against the Government after being moved onto pension schemes that reduced benefits.
Ms Lynch said: “The recent suspension of our CEO has added to the challenge. I know that has been unsettling for members and for reps. We owed it to our members to face all of that head on. And that is what we are doing.”
She said a transformation programme unveiled this week is a “serious, structured plan to reform governance, strengthen our finances, change our culture”.