Former head of the National Counter-Terrorism Security Office Chris Phillips has accused Sir Keir Starmer's Government of treating the public like "mugs" over the policing crisis and unfunded crime pledges.
Phillips said the criminal justice system and police have been underfunded for "about 12 to 15 years", resulting in streets with "very few police officers" and prisons "full to bursting".
He described the situation as "impossible" and said it had been "allowed to get like this over a generation".
Phillips told GB News: "The criminal justice system and in particular the police have been underfunded now for about 12 to 15 years, and the end result of that is that we have our streets, have very few police officers on them.
Phillips said the criminal justice system and police have been underfunded for "about 12 to 15 years"
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"Prisons are full to bursting and it's an impossible situation. It's been allowed to get like this over a generation, and now it's all the police officers coming out and saying, look, this is no longer acceptable.
"We can't have reduced resources. We need to have enough people to do the job that you want us to do."
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He added: "Police often officer numbers are supposed to be going up. They're actually going down.
"The number of people leaving, officers leaving the force is more than that joining at the moment. So this is all pie in the sky.
"I think we're all as members of the public being treated as mugs. We know that there's more crime now than there ever has been in the past.
"The vast majority of that has not been reported. Unfortunately, that the the government are unwilling or unable to fund the people that we want to do the job to keep us safe."
Six of Britain's most senior police chiefs have warned the Prime Minister that he will fail to deliver his crime pledges without significant extra funding.
With only a fortnight to go before the Government's spending review, the six chiefs, including Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Commissioner, have warned they face a £1.3billion shortfall in funding.
The police chiefs said it was "the most important moment in decades for the Government to choose to back policing" in an article published in The Times.
They warned that their ability to "secure outcomes for victims is at risk" without "substantial investments".
He warned that there could be less police on the street
LINCOLNSHIRE POLICEThe signatories also included Serena Kennedy of Merseyside Police, Stephen Watson of Greater Manchester Police, Craig Guildford of West Midlands Police, John Robins of West Yorkshire Police, and Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council.
The Government has defended its policing budget, with a Home Office spokesman stating they are "backing the police to protect our communities and keep our streets safe with up to £17.6billion this year, an increase of up to £1.2billion". This includes £200million to "kickstart putting 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers, PCSOs and special constables" on the streets.
However, police chiefs have raised additional concerns about early prisoner release schemes adding further pressure on resources. The National Police Chiefs' Council warned that letting criminals "out of prison" earlier must not mean offenders are "out of control".
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has secured an extra £700million for the probation service and plans to deploy "tens of thousands" more electronic tags for high-risk offenders.
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