Andy Burnham has been warned that he faces an ‘exodus’ of police officers across the country if he does not back forces.

Aileen O’Connor, chair of the Thames Valley Police Federation who campaigned against the early release of the killers of PC Andrew Harper, said she would like the Prime Minister to understand what it’s like to be a police officer.

She urged Mr Burnham to ‘get behind policing’ as she handed in her petition to Downing Street against the early release of Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, which has been signed by more than a million people.

She spoke out as the Prime Minister said he understood the ‘anguish’ bereaved families faced as a result of U-turns on the prisoner early-release programme, but he stopped short of apologising.

The killers who dragged the officer to his death as he tried to prevent a quad bike theft are no longer eligible for early release after Mr Burnham excluded them from the scheme following a public backlash.

Ms O’Connor said officers felt let down that they had ever been considered for early release. ‘There’s an exodus still happening across police forces in this country and they (the Government) really need to address that’, she said.

‘We need to see the Government get behind policing. We need better funding. We need better support. And we need to make sure that we are treated fairly by this Government and address the issues that police officers face every single day.

‘What I’d like the Prime Minister to realise is what it’s like to be a police officer in this day and age, in 2026.

‘Every ten minutes in the UK an officer is assaulted. Sometimes seriously assaulted, and sometimes they lose their lives.’

The latest Home Office statistics available show more than 39,000 reports of officer assaults were recorded in the year to April 2025. Nearly 16,200 officers were injured.

Ms O’Connor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘What they’ve done in terms of the early release scheme, that’s just one part of the puzzle for me.

‘Everything needs to be addressed, a root-and-branch review of the criminal justice system, the court system, sentencing, you name it, because what we’ve seen previously is funding for policing in this country has… we are always the last piece of the pie.

‘We always get the crumbs at the end, and that needs to change.’

Under fresh changes announced on Sunday, anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter and death by dangerous driving, will be excluded from the early-release scheme.

The Prime Minister faced a call from Plaid Cymru MP Ann Davies to apologise to victims of crime and their families who waited months to hear if killers could be released on to the streets before serving their full tariff.

She asked: ‘Will the Prime Minister now apologise to victims and their families put through significant distress throughout this process?’

Mr Burnham replied: ‘I do understand their anguish. I listened to what they were saying, I came in and asked for changes to the early-release scheme.’