Will Philip Hammond's spring statement end the Tories' shameless mafia tactics on public spending?

‘Nice employment laws you’ve got there. Be a shame if something happened to them’

The government’s attempts to get MPs to vote for Theresa May’s now-terminal Brexit deal have resembled a mob boss trying to get the city to approve his new casino or the Feds to drop their money laundering investigation. At the Spring Statement on Wednesday, it’s Philip Hammond’s turn to make MPs an offer we can’t refuse.

First, it was straightforward bribery. The prime minister effectively met Labour MPs in a secluded underground car park and offered them a suitcase containing £1.6bn in cash. Presumably in unmarked, non-sequential bills.

When that didn’t work, she added a promise about workers’ rights to try and sweeten the deal. Never mind that the government’s pursuit of a hard Brexit threatens those rights in the first place. It’s a classic protection racket. “Nice employment laws you’ve got there. Be a shame if something happened to them.”

Now that the House of Commons has rejected May’s Brexit deal for a second time, ministers are getting really desperate. The chancellor is resorting to another tried and tested mob tactic: extortion. Hammond will reportedly promise MPs that he will release funding that schools and police forces badly need – but only if we vote for a Brexit deal.

The immorality of this approach is appalling, especially at a time when far too many young lives are being claimed by an epidemic of knife crime.

The prime minister may deny it, but there’s no doubt that we need more police to stop the violence on our streets. Since 2015, the Conservative government has cut £1bn from police budgets, resulting in almost 5,000 fewer officers and 2,600 fewer police community support officers. The Home Office’s own analysis – which ministers refused to publish last year – shows that these cuts to police numbers “likely contributed” to the rise in serious violence.

The Police Federation, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner have all warned that a lack of personnel and resources is harming forces’ ability to do their jobs and keep us safe. Police across the country are crying out for extra cash to recruit more officers, but so far those cries have fallen on deaf ears at the Treasury.

Hammond refused to boost police budgets in his Budget last October, and the police funding settlement in January contained not a single penny to reverse cuts to frontline policing. Instead, the Conservative government has passed the buck to local police and crime commissioners to make up budget shortfalls by raising council tax.

Schools and youth services also urgently need additional funding to prevent children from joining gangs and carrying knives. In particular, schools need extra resources to reverse the recent rise in the number of pupils who are excluded from mainstream education – something that greatly increases their risk of becoming involved in serious violence.

Now, at last, even the chancellor can’t deny that more funding is necessary to tackle the shocking rise in knife crime. He has admitted that it’s a priority and said that the money is there, ready to be spent. But he had the audacity to tie the spending to MPs approval of Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

It’s such a blatant ransom demand that Hammond might as well write it in letters cut out of newspaper headlines.

He held hostage the money needed to take effective action on knife crime and stop so many children being killed. The price for its release? MPs’ votes for a Brexit deal that would hurt our economy, our public services and our national security. I assume we’re we to await instructions on where the handover will take place..

It’s completely unacceptable, and Hammond has the chance on Wednesday to take urgent spending requirements out of the nasty Brexit bartering. Knife crime is a crisis now, and police forces, schools and youth services need funding to tackle it today. Conservative cabinet members need to stop acting like mobsters and start acting like government ministers.