The meeting at the Bowls Club this Friday is the result of discussions we've been having with a local resident justifiably concerned about rise in burglaries in the area. Subsequently the MP was invited, the police too. Here is the problem

1) Police numbers may be up from their 2012 lows but they remain - certainly in Bowes/Southgate Green - well below the numbers we had been able to achieve beforehand. But don't mention the cuts.

2) The recent rise in police numbers coincides with decision to shut down local stations (i.e. on Bowes Rd). Meaning that police are working out of a few central spots (more distant Southgate High Street), meaning it takes them longer to get to ward

3). There is a less visible presence on our streets, because of the greater distance between the base and the ward, but also because all the jobs that used to be done by back office staff that got fired by the new Government in 2010-2011 are now being done by the police themselves.

Not to mention rising poverty and inequality levels in society as a whole.