Amber Rudd should consider QUITTING over violent crime epidemic, says boss of one of Britain’s top police forces

AMBER RUDD should consider quitting after the spike in violent crime, the head of one of Britain's biggest police forces said today.

West Midlands police boss David Jamieson accused the Home Secretary of misleading voters by claiming that police cuts have not caused a spike in crime.

He called on her to "consider her position", claiming the public can no longer trust her.

Yesterday Ms Rudd unveiled a new strategy to combat violent crime - including a £40million cash boost and efforts to tackle the root causes of violence.

But Mr Jamieson, the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, suggested she was being dishonest by denying that cuts to police numbers have made crime worse.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the new action plan was "rehashed" from previous announcements and didn't include any fresh funding.

Mr Jamieson said: "She says she's putting £40million into this programme she announced yesterday - but you look at my own force, we're losing £145million per year from our budget, so what she's proposing is a drop in the ocean.

"Fighting crime and violence happens 365 days a year, it doesn't happen just in the few weeks before a local election.

"We've got to fund these things consistently over a period of time and allow chief constables to be funded properly to do the things they need to do to tackle violent crime."

Calling on Ms Rudd to step down, he added: "Some of the things that were said yesterday were deeply misleading and I think she should reflect on what she said and whether or not, if the public can't trust the Home Secretary's words, she really must consider her position.

"I just do not trust what she said - she said crime is falling, crime is not falling."

Mr Jamieson was elected as police commissioner in 2014 after previously serving as a Labour minister.

Ms Rudd's announcement - which follows a killing spree on the streets of London - includes a crackdown on violence spread through social media and new measures to curb the drug trade.