Police chief hits out at Farage's 'ludicrous' plan to ditch equality policies

'We have to be open, honest, transparent... even if that means there is a potential for disorder' Serena Kennedy Chief constable, Merseyside police

- Vikram Dodd

The Reform party's promise to abolish policies on equality and diversity is "ludicrous" and threatens to take policing and society backwards, says one of the UK's most senior chief constables.

Serena Kennedy retires on Sunday as the chief constable of Merseyside police, after a tumultuous four years in charge of the force. She led its response to the Southport dance class murders last year and the riots that followed, and led the way on giving ethnicity and nationality details of suspects to counter disinformation.

Kennedy said the riots in Southport started with "carloads" of people arriving to attack a mosque, and rubbished claims that asylum seekers were to blame for a crimewave.

She also called for a new national scheme to counter violence, and criticised politicians, such as the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, for making questionable statements at times of heightened tension, such as immediately after the Southport riot.

Reform UK, which recently won local councils and is predicted to win more in elections next May, is vowing to scrap what it calls "DEI" initiatives - the term used by Donald Trump supporters for diversity, equality and inclusion.

Kennedy said: "I have a real nervousness that we are going backwards in relation to diversity and equality."

She said those groups with less confidence in policing and other public services, such as ethnic minorities and women, needed efforts by key institutions, such as the police, to win their trust back.