POLICE DECLARE WAR!

Jacqui Smith

A senior detective launched an astonishing attack on the Home Secretary yesterday as the police declared "war" with the Government over pay.

Chris Sadler - who has more than 25 years' experience - said officers would never forgive Jacqui Smith for her decision to stagger their 2.5 per cent deal.

The detective inspector said he had devoted his entire career to "picking up the pieces of everybody's problems" but to Miss Smith he was "faceless" and "unimportant".

His remarks came as the largest police body, the Metropolitan Police Federation, said it was officially "at war with the Government" over the pay issue.

Police authorities further tightened the screw on the Government by revealing they had the £30million needed for the pay rise in their budgets, and wanted to hand it over.

More than 120 MPs meanwhile have signed a motion demanding a rethink on the issue.

The sharp escalation of the dispute came just as Gordon Brown upped the stakes - insisting the decision to hold back part of this year's pay rise was "in the national interest".

The Prime Minister left himself no room to back down as he said the move was essential for the future of the economy.

He told MPs: "I would like to pay the police more. But nobody wants inflation to return to the British economy.

"I was absolutely clear right at the beginning of the year that we had made a decision to stagger public sector pay awards."

Mr Brown insisted that from December 1, the full 2.5 per cent increase is being paid. But in Scotland, it has been backdated to September when it had been due to come in nationwide.

Officers complain that without the backdating, their annual increase will amount to 1.9 per cent.

The Retail Price Index, on which many pay increases are based, puts the current level of inflation at 4.2 per cent.

Detective Inspector Sadler, of Cleveland Police, said Miss Smith should "bow her head in shame" over the decision to stage the pay deal.

He added: "I have been assaulted, threatened and been attacked both on and off duty.

"I have saved lives, risked my own and gone to the aid of many people. I have seen sights a human should not endure.

"I've put out fires, faced bricks, bottles, petrol bombs, knives and guns.

"I've nursed the dying, comforted the bereaved and arrested killers.

"'ve protected the weak, the vulnerable, the old and the children.

"I have saved the abused and caught the abusers.

"I have put in jail killers, rapists, robbers, burglars, sex offenders and every type of criminal you can imagine.

"I am here for what no one else can sort out...the terrible things in life, murder, death, terrorism, violence and despair.

"I have spent my entire adult life picking up the pieces of everybody else's problems.

"I know many bad people may hate me and to a few I am a hero, but to the Home Secretary I am faceless, taken for granted and unimportant."

The revelation by police authorities that they have the money to pay officers' rises in full suggests the Government's motives are political, rather than aimed at preventing a funding crisis for police forces.

Appearing before MPs earlier this week, Miss Smith suggested paying the wage rise in full was the equivalent of 800 police jobs.

The Metropolitan Police Federation said the Government had goaded officers into doing "the unthinkable" - contemplating seeking the right to take industrial action.

(This is War!)

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