On the afternoon that Angela Rayner resigned last month I was having a drink with a wise old owl of the security industry. I was having Guinness and he was having something lighter-coloured. I raised Reform UK with him to try out my ideas about the party (see page 22). I havenโt been asking whether he or others I have spoken to like Reform or not. Being neutral about it, the chances are that Nigel Farage will be the next prime minister at the next election in 2029, and itโs sensible for the private security sector to at least give it some thought. It could happen even sooner; the owl was giving the Starmer government nine to 12 months.
Sir Keir Starmerโs reshuffle of his Cabinet followed. That will mean a hiccup at least in crime and policing policy, for a few months as new ministers get the hang of their new subject. Dame Diana Johnson the police minister for example who was chairing the quarterly retail crime forum has gone to be something in the Department for Work and Pensions. Thankfully for those in private security who seek to make (and as importantly keep) connections with those in power, Dan Jarvis has remained the security minister. He, remember, was the man who in September 2024 signed off what turned into the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act. A year ago feels a long time away! Figen Murray, Martynโs Law campaigner, still recalls (page 14) how she had to get to know one Home Office minister after another, as she sought to turn her campaign into a law. This merry-go-round of ministers matters greatly because of the efforts of Paul Evans, chief of Carlisle Support Services, and others to befriend Jarvis, and Home Office officials, and senior cops, in the name of an integrated policing and private security initiative (IPSS; see more on page 14, and from 41).
The potential gains in public policy are major and visible, as I touched on last month. Why not have a national common uniform for security officers on the railways (pictured, Sheffield station) or in hospitals from any contractor, with a Velcro strip saying G4S or whichever company name on the shoulder or chest. That does beg the question; which colour, or colours? Uniform suppliers with stocks to shift will have an interest too and may want to follow developments. If or when Reform take power, the logic of their policy to collar several hundred thousand illegal immigrants would demand the carrying of identity cards. We are seeing in the United States, a similar urge by President Trump to deport as many illegals as possible is trickling down (as the cynics might expect) into those actually doing the work to go after the easiest options, to snare as many in the most obvious places – and not being too choosy.
