More than 1,000 officers have reacted to the home secretary's speech defending cuts and reforms to the police service with complete silence.

The lack of any applause for Theresa May at the annual conference of the Police Federation in Bournemouth was followed by a wave of criticism, including a live video link-up with PC David Rathband, the officer blinded by the killer Raoul Moat. "I was paid £35,000 last year. Do you think it was too much?" he said.

May had to endure more than 40 minutes of highly critical questioning after her speech but she did not flinch from her central defence that the police were not being singled out for deeper cuts than the rest of the public sector.

"This isn't revenge, it's a rescue mission to bring the economy back from the brink and to make sure the police come through not just intact but better equipped for the future," said May.

"Not all of you will like some of the decisions I have taken," she told the conference. "And not all of you will like what I have to say. But it's not my job to duck the difficult decisions and to tell what you want to hear. It is my job to take the difficult decisions that are needed to get the police through these tough times and to put policing on a sustainable footing."

But her audience made clear their feelings when they loudly cheered and gave a standing ovation to PC Sarah Adams, who told May she could not expect the police to trust her again. Adams said the Conservatives had promised at the general election to protect the services that the public most valued but had instead made severe cuts to policing.

However, May insisted: "I am backing the police. I've shown I am backing the police."

She also responded to Rathband's video-link question: "I am not sitting here saying to any individual officer your pay is wrong," adding that she had asked the former rail regulator Tom Winsor to review pay and conditions across the board, to see what savings could be made.

The police federation chairman, Paul McKeever, bluntly told May she had been wrong to dismiss his warning last year of public disorder; to underline his point he played a video of officers being injured during the tuition fees protests in December, backed by a soundtrack of the Kaiser Chiefs' song I Predict a Riot.

He also claimed that the government's decision to protect international development spending while cutting the police budget by 20% was motivated by the desire of Conservative activists to go to Africa every summer on social projects.

"If you get aid right in certain parts of the world, such as Pakistan, it will reduce the possibility of terrorism on the streets of the UK," replied the home secretary, in defence of aid spending. The response provoked laughter from her audience.

During her speech, May rejected the federation's demands for a royal commission on policing, saying that changes were needed now, not in the far future. "We have a clear and comprehensive vision for the future of policing. The reforms we are introducing will give you the discretion to fight crime. They'll cut bureaucracy, empower the public, strengthen the fight against organised crime and provide better value for money for the taxpayer."

She tried to offer one olive branch to the police by announcing that she had agreed with Chancellor George Osborne that the pension age for police should be treated separately from most of the rest of the public sector. "Your pay and conditions should be considered in the round, and we will consult on any changes to your pensions through the police negotiating board," May told the conference, although it appeared to make little impression on her audience.