Nick McKerrell of Glasgow Caledonian University says the police force is unlike any other public sector service – which is why the subject is so controversial
Police officers in the UK are legally barred from striking but, set against pay that has slowly declined by 20% in real terms and a cost of living crisis in which officers are forced to use food banks, should they be? I asked Nick McKerrell, senior lecturer in law at Glasgow Caledonian University, who specialises in police structures and powers.
There are probably police officers at picket lines this summer in the same desperate situation as the strikers
Yes, the cost of living affects everyone. That’s a modern phenomenon, though, because historically police were paid more than a lot of other public sector workers.
