Richard Drax, MP for South Dorset, is calling for more police on the streets.

He said recent terror incidents highlighted the need for more officers.

And the Dorset Echo revealed last week that three quarters of crimes in the county were going undetected.

Mr Drax said: “As a former soldier who served in Northern Ireland on three operational tours, I know how important it is to have a uniformed presence on the streets. It not only reassures residents, but dominates the ground on which the terrorist wants to operate. Similarly, more police on the streets would do the same. 

“I appreciate that the nature of crime has changed. Online crime, for example, consumes much police time and officers, but community policing is just as important and, frankly, it is where much of the intelligence should and must come from to tackle crime.”

Mr Drax also called for fairer funding for schools in Dorset, which along with increasing police numbers, has long been one of his priorities as an MP.

Speaking after the Queen’s Speech and addressing the recent terrorist atrocities and the Grenfell fire, he said: “Violence driven by hatred and intolerance have blighted our country in recent weeks, and the ghastly fire at Grenfell tower has only heightened a growing sense of unease. I have to say that this feeling has been exploited shamelessly by some for political gain, and I find that totally inappropriate." 

On Brexit, he said: “We have a challenge ahead of us over the next two years, and one that we will rise to. I am a little tired of the siren voices, both in this place and in the media, for the decision to leave the EU has been made, and now it is time to get right behind UK plc. Of course jobs and our future prosperity must be key factors in future negotiations, but which idiot of a bureaucrat or politician would purposefully punish the UK by placing obstacles in the way of the free trade on which both we and the EU rely so heavily?"

On defence, Mr Drax welcomed “the Government’s commitment to spend at least 2% of our national income on defence—the NATO minimum—but, as I have argued in this place for the past seven years, that is not enough.”