Priti Patel has defended the decision to leave London for a photo opportunity with police patrols in Essex despite the global pandemic. She said: 'The Prime Minister and I have statutory duties and responsibilities in terms of our work with Government as ministers of the crown and as public servants. 'That's why you see the Prime Minister every single day working as hard as he does, and why you see me out today with our new police recruits.' Ms Patel added: 'We have delivered on our police uplift programme, we will deliver on the 20,000. Boris Johnson vowed to swell the police service to more than 140,000 officers by mid-2022 as part of his bid to become Prime Minister.

Source: Daily Mail January 28, 2021 19:36 UTC