The Police Officer Who Told Theresa May What Cuts Would Lead To

James O'Brien highlighted these remarkable exchanges between Theresa May and a former police officer, who predicted having to put soldiers on the streets due to police cuts.

Damian O'Reilly told the Home Secretary that's what would happen at the Police Federation Conference in 2015.

Theresa May, then the Home Secretary, dismissed his comments as "scaremongering".

But two years later, that has come true. And James O'Brien said the figures are almost unbelievable. Since 2010 when Mrs May became Home Secretary, 1,337 trained firearms officers have seen their jobs cut.

Yesterday, 984 soldiers were put on the streets to help keep the public safe.

James said: "It's almost unbelievable when you look at the figures. 984 soldiers were deployed on the streets of Britain yesterday to help free up armed officers.

"Maybe she meant something different when she accused police officers of scaremongering when they said they would have to adopt a paramilitary style of policing.

"But within two years of levelling that accusation, it's almost a straight swap."