Aileen O'Connor, chair of the Thames Valley Police Federation, has warned Andy Burnham that police forces across the country face an "exodus" of officers unless the government offers stronger backing, funding and support. She spoke after handing in a petition of more than a million signatures to Downing Street opposing the early release of Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, who killed PC Andrew Harper, and after the Prime Minister said he understood victims' families' "anguish" over U-turns on the early-release scheme without offering an apology.

Bowers and Cole, who dragged Harper to his death while he tried to stop a quad bike theft, have now been excluded from early release following public backlash, and the government has widened the exclusion to cover anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including manslaughter and death by dangerous driving. O'Connor cited Home Office figures showing over 39,000 reports of officer assaults and nearly 16,200 injuries in the year to April 2025, and called for a "root-and-branch review" of the criminal justice system. Plaid Cymru MP Ann Davies pressed Burnham to apologise to affected families, but he said only that he understood their anguish and had sought changes to the scheme.