Police are being ‘weaponised’ by politicians in local elections, former top prosecutor warns

Exclusive: Nazir Afzal called for complaints during elections to be taken away from local forces and for prosecutions of ‘those with frivolous accusations for wasting police time’

A former top prosecutor has hit out after the Conservatives twice reported Labour candidates to police just days before the local elections.

The double whammy came as Rishi Sunak’s party faced predictions it would lose up to 500 councillors across England and struggle in two crunch mayoral votes.

Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor, warned police forces were “being weaponised as part of the campaign by those who don’t care about the problems facing policing – particularly resourcing”.

He also called for complaints during elections to be taken away from local forces and for prosecutions of “those with frivolous accusations for wasting police time”.

Nazir Afzal is a former chief crown prosecutor

On Wednesday, West Midlands Police said it was assessing an allegation against Richard Parker, Labour’s candidate in the crunch election for the mayor of the West Midlands.

That battle, alongside the vote for the mayor of the Tees Valley, was widely seen as crucial for Mr Sunak’s future, with rebel Tories ready to move against him had the party lost them.

On Wednesday, The Independent revealed that the Tories had reported a Labour council group in Milton Keynes, a hotly contested bellwether seat, to Thames Valley Police.

Labour sources condemned the complaint against Mr Parker as “shameful political game playing” as the Conservatives faced a disastrous set of election results.

Labour claimed the use of police complaints by the Conservatives ahead of the local elections was “becoming more than a habit”.

The double reporting of Labour last week follows the Conservatives’ push for an investigation into allegations Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner broke electoral law over the sale of her former council house.

The Tories also reported Angela Rayner to the police over the sale a former home (AFP via Getty)

Mr Afzal told the Independent: “On the complaints being lodged with police during the elections, I have long believed that we should treat elections as we treat big sporting events, where a special national police unit is set up just for the election period to quickly assess and investigate where appropriate.

“The current process where individual forces are used is being weaponised as part of the campaign by those who don’t care about the problems facing policing – particularly resourcing. Take it away from local police and prosecute those with frivolous accusations for wasting police time and it will stop.”

Mr Afzal has previously said that based on what’s in the public domain, the Crown Prosecution Service would take no action against Ms Rayner.

In the West Midlands, Gary Sambrook, the Tory MP for Birmingham Northfield, wrote to police over claims Labour’s candidate may have broken residency rules to get on the ballot paper, something the party emphatically denies.

One of the complaints came from Gary Sambrook, the Tory MP for Birmingham Northfield (Parliament UK)

In Milton Keynes, Tory MP Ben Everitt said he had made a police complaint over literature he alleged came from the local Labour council group and which he said was “misleading” and “breaches election law”.

The row focuses on the failure to open a new GP surgery.

In an email to Thames Valley Police, he wrote that Labour had told residents that proposals for the surgery were refused because the Conservative government failed to release the necessary funds.

He said this was “demonstrably false” and emails show it was Milton Keynes Council which stopped the development, by advising against applying for planning permission.

Labour dismissed the allegation. A spokesperson accused the Tories of having “clearly misunderstood”.

She said: “They are not being accused of blocking the new surgery. They are being rightly accused of, and held to account for, consistently failing to deliver the necessary funding for new infrastructure in Milton Keynes.

“Rather than wasting valuable police time and resources, the Conservatives should apologise to the people of Milton Keynes for letting them down for the last two decades.”