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Police chiefs have warned the home secretary they must have “operational independence” when deciding how to respond to crime.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) was responding to Suella Braverman‘s announcement that police forces in England and Wales must investigate every theft as part of a crackdown on crime.

The home secretary said it was “unacceptable” that crimes such as shoplifting, criminal damage and phone or car theft have been treated as “less important”.

On Monday, forces committed to follow all “reasonable lines of enquiry” following offences such as burglary or theft, in an effort to improve investigations and drive down crime rates.

However, in an open letter to Ms Braverman and policing minister Chris Philp, NPCC chair Gavin Stephens warned that pressures on policing was having an impact on the criminal justice system as a whole and that “more needs to be done together”.

Mr Stephens said that while the NPCC and the College of Policing had worked together to update the guidance on reasonable lines of inquiry, “consistency across forces vary”.

“Growing demand as well as the increasing and changing nature of crime means consistency across forces varies and approximately 21 of 43 forces still have less officers than in 2010,” he wrote.

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“It is therefore right that police chiefs have operational independence and are responsible for making difficult decisions around how best to respond to the breadth of priorities of local communities.”

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‘Police must investigate every theft’

Mr Stephens said that while he welcomed the government’s commitment to recruit 20,000 police officers in England and Wales, he pointed out that since 2010, the first year of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, the number of police officers has only increased by 2.6% – compared with a 25% increase in recorded crime.

The NPCC chair described neighbourhood policing as the “bedrock”, adding: “We believe that the number of neighbourhood officers should be increased.”

The commitment to follow all reasonable lines of inquiry – agreed by the Home Office, the NPCC and the College of Policing – comes as part of a “crime week” of policy announcements planned by the government.

‘Criminals must have no place to hide’

In her announcement, Ms Braverman said she had “heard too many accounts from victims where police simply haven’t acted on helpful leads because crimes such as phone and car thefts are seen as less important”, adding: “That’s unacceptable.

“It has damaged people’s confidence in policing. Criminals must have no place to hide.”

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Labour branded the announcements a “staggering admission of 13 years of Tory failure on policing and crime”.

“Pursuing reasonable leads like CCTV is what the police should be doing, but – because of abysmal Tory management – over 90% of crimes go unsolved, the proportion of crimes prosecuted has dropped by more than two thirds and more criminals are getting off,” a Labour spokesperson said.

“The fact that the Tories are boasting about asking the police to do the basic minimum that victims of crime should rightly expect, whilst failing to tackle the underlying problems they have caused shows how badly they have failed over the last 13 years.”

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Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

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Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

The Chinese owner of British Steel has held fresh talks with government officials in a bid to break the impasse over ministers’ determination not to compensate it for seizing control of the company.

Sky News has learnt that executives from Jingye Group met senior civil servants from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) late last week to discuss ways to resolve the standoff.

Whitehall sources said the talks had been cordial, but that no meaningful progress had been made towards a resolution.

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Jingye wants the government to agree to pay it hundreds of millions of pounds for taking control of British Steel in April – a move triggered by the Chinese group’s preparations for the permanent closure of its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.

Such a move would have cost thousands of jobs and ended Britain’s centuries-old ability to produce virgin steel.

Jingye had been in talks for months to seek £1bn in state aid to facilitate the Scunthorpe plant’s transition to greener steelmaking, but was offered just half that sum by ministers.

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British Steel has not yet been formally nationalised, although that remains a probable outcome.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has previously dismissed the idea of compensating Jingye, saying British Steel’s equity was essentially worthless.

Last month, he met his Chinese counterpart, where the issue of British Steel was discussed between the two governments in person for the first time.

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Inside the UK’s last blast furnaces

Jingye has hired the leading City law firm Linklaters to explore the recovery of hundreds of millions of pounds it invested in the Scunthorpe-based company before the government seized control of it.

News of last week’s meeting comes as British steelmakers face an anxious wait to learn whether their exports to the US face swingeing tariffs as part of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Sky News’s economics and data editor, Ed Conway, revealed this week that the UK would miss a White House-imposed deadline to agree a trade deal on steel and aluminium this week.

Read more from Sky News:
Is Britain going bankrupt?
Public finances in ‘relatively vulnerable position’, OBR warns

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Jingye declined to comment, while a spokesman for the Department for Business and Trade said: “We acted quickly to ensure the continued operations of the blast furnaces but recognise that securing British Steel’s long-term future requires private sector investment.

“We have not nationalised British Steel and are working closely with Jingye on options for the future, and we will continue work on determining the best long-term sustainable future for the site.”

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Ethereum corporate treasuries critical for the ecosystem: Joseph Lubin

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Ethereum corporate treasuries critical for the ecosystem: Joseph Lubin

Ethereum corporate treasuries critical for the ecosystem: Joseph Lubin

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin said that corporate ETH treasuries are vital for driving ecosystem growth.

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South Korea plans to lift crypto venture business restrictions

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South Korea plans to lift crypto venture business restrictions

South Korea plans to lift crypto venture business restrictions

South Korea may lift restrictions on crypto firms, allowing them venture status and access to tax breaks, funding and regulatory benefits.

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