SIR – Right at the start of the Government’s term of office, I was somewhat puzzled that, the coalition (but Tories in particular) were chomping at the bit to make major cuts to both the very large defence and police budgets.

In my experience of radical Tory governments, I recall that both the police and military were highly instrumental in keeping that particular government in power.

Recent headlines openly besmirching the integrity and efficiency of the police, however, suggests to me that the Government are now manoeuvring into a position to actually take the police on. Strange days indeed, you may think. But perhaps not so strange when you consider that where there is a huge budget, there is also the huge opportunity for some Tory supporter to make a huge profit out of it.

Stage one of the gambit was the politicising of the police hierarchy with Crime Commissioners (based on the simple Tory principle that one person is easier to manipulate than a committee).

Stage two will be the eventual privatising of the police with ‘coppers under contract’ (G4S would be my guess). The Reserve Forces would lend themselves admirably to a similar fate.

Christopher Hindle, Osterley Grove, Bradford