Police Versus Politics

Now this is something that even with my hatred of Blair I didn't see. The real reason for the police lobbying parliment to help New Labour

What ever your point of view on this, why are we surprised when Chief Officer positions are subject to Home Office approval, that Chief Officers are called upon to support the government when things begin to look dicey?

Especially as it would appear that the number of police forces in the UK are set to be drastically reduced - There's bound to be loads of competition for the senior posts in the newly restructured UK police service.