David Cameron and Theresa May have insisted their cuts to police budgets can be achieved without a reduction in frontline police numbers.

But Tim Brain, the former Gloucestershire police chief and now honorary senior research fellow at Cardiff University’s Police Science Institute, has challenged that claim head on.

In a study released today, Brain calls for the government to “pause and think again” about its planned 20 per cent cut to police budgets over the next four years, saying that it is bound to affect frontline policing. Read more

My colleague Patrick Jenkins reported a week ago that the reforms to Britain’s banks, designed to prevent another financial disaster, may not be completed for up to eight years:

However, government officials say he may give banks several years – most likely until 2019, when the Basel III global capital regulations will have to be complied with – to adapt to the changes.

The Vickers’ report into banks is understood to endorse strict ring-fencing while giving banks a long time-frame to implement the new rules.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this would not exactly fit in with the promise of Vince Cable, business secretary, that the changes will be carried out as quickly as possible. Read more