Woke police spark fury for 'wasting money' on a rainbow painted car to make LGBT Brits 'feel comfortable'

A Conservative MP has attacked his local police force for “wasting money” on a rainbow painted car – saying they are being “exclusive not inclusive”.

Mark Jenkinson, Tory MP for Workington, has written to the Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary to voice his concerns over their decision.

In his letter, shared on the MPs Twitter, Jenkinson said: “I would be interested to see the evidence to support the claim that a rainbow car has any effect whatsoever on an LGBTQ person’s willingness to come forward to report a ‘hate crime’.

Facebook / Cumbria Police

“If a rainbow car is required for people to feel comfortable about reporting a crime, then the police are doing policing wrong. And if inclusion is the real purpose of daubing police vehicles in political logos and slogans may I ask where is your car for BAME people, for women (by which I mean an ‘adult human female’), for men, for Christians, for Jews?”

He added: “In focusing on the rights of a particular group, police are being exclusive and not inclusive – the exact opposite of the message they say they are seeking to convey.”

In his letter, Jenkinson went on to say: “This woke gimmickry is alienating a huge section of the public at a time when faith in the police is already at an all-time low nationally. This is further undermining public confidence in the ability of forces across the country to enforce the law impartially and effectively”.

A spokesperson from Cumbria Constabulary told the News & Star: “We know hate crimes are under reported in Cumbria, including those from the LGBT+ community, and want to encourage people to report crimes to us so we can investigate and provide support to those who need it.

“No one should be targeted for who they are.

“As a force we work hard to reach out to all of our diverse communities, including undertaking work on violence against women and girls and the National Race Action plan.

“This vehicle is a small part of the work we are doing to engage with and show support to the LGBT+ community – both internally and externally.

“Our car is not yet operational.

Conservative MP for Workington, Mark Jenkinson, shared his letter on Twitter
@markjenkinsonmp

“The cost for livery of a police car is £657, for the LGBT+ branding it is an additional £247.

“We are proud that in our recent HMICFRS inspection it highlighted the good work we are doing and that we have an ethical and inclusive culture – and this is something we are keen to build on.

“Our vision is to deliver an outstanding police service to keep Cumbria safe.

“To deliver this, we must treat everyone fairly, legitimately and improve the trust and confidence in us to all our communities – including those who are subjected to hate crime."

It comes after it was revealed in January that police forces across Britain had spent £66,000 on rainbow-themed merchandise.

Police forces have spent thousands on LGBT merchandise
Daniel Leal-Olivas

The report by The Telegraph found 27 forces in England and Wales had spent cash on LGBT key rings, whistles, lip balm, selfie frames and pens.

The biggest spender was South Wales Police which racked up a bill of £24,000 on rainbow flags, face paints, T-shirts, badges, pens, whistles, wristbands, sporks, trolley, water bottles and keyrings.

Following in second was Kent Police who bought rainbow whistles, key rings, wristbands, grip pens, erasers, paper stickers, curvy pens, pencils, coasters, lanyards, trolley coins and ID holders, worth £8,000.

Lancashire Police spent £1,500 on rainbow lip balm, flags, keyrings, lanyards and stickers, while Wiltshire Police forked out £538 on LGBT lanyards and “rainbow fuzzy bugs”.