Richard Tice has faced backlash for suggesting private look-a-like coppers could be used to “top up the local police presence” in areas across the UK.
The Reform UK deputy leader said private security services are “alternative solutions” to combat smaller crimes and the “perception” that towns are not “safe places” as they would be able to conduct citizen’s arrests that could lead to private prosecutions.
He told Lincolnshire Live that public space protection orders and wardens are “not enough”, arguing: “It needs to be much more visible, much more physical and much more punchy and aggressive in [tackling] shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.”
When asked about funding, he explained that the private teams could be paid for through private investment and partnerships with businesses or local authorities.
The MP for Boston and Skegness continued: “We can’t just carry on whingeing. We have to come up with alternative solutions and this is one of them.
“If you don’t have a deterrent then people will just take the mickey. I think Bostonians and people who look to go into Boston but never cared to, it’s that perception that it’s not a safe place to be.”
The police are not the only public service his party has suggested “privatising”. Nigel Farage has admitted that the “model through which we fund health is wrong” and has considered a “France-based system” where the public has to pay into a scheme.
Labour heavyweight Andy Burnham, earlier this week, told The London Economic that his party should “start to debate” some of Reform UK’s policies, including on the NHS.
He said: “I think it is right we start to debate some of their positions more because he is on record for saying he wants to get rid of the NHS and replace it with an insurance based private system. I fundamentally oppose that.
“I am a former health secretary and I am confident in saying that the NHS model, properly funded, is the right model because it has shown itself over decades to be the most cost effective way of delivering health care to the whole population.
“We have traditionally spent less than 10 per cent of GDP on our health. If you look at the US, they spend 18 per cent because you have all of the costs that come with a market based system and, of course, in that system, those on the lowest incomes often struggle to get the treatment that they need.”
A Labour Party source added: “The public cares deeply about the NHS, and the principle of it being free at the point of use is non negotiable for almost everyone. It represents British values.
“That’s why it’s important that we highlight the danger of Nigel Farage’s consistent position on moving to a fee paying model.
“It would see patients paying hundreds, even thousands, for hip replacements, cataract surgery, and even routine treatment.”
Related: Reform UK suggest first new policy since election and its labelled an ‘economic disaster’