NORTHUMBRIA Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, has been asked to clarify her position on the Black Lives Matter UK’s aim to "defund the police."

The call comes after BLMUK criticised Labour leader Keir Starmer for dismissing their aim as "nonsense" in an interview with BBC Breakfast.

 In response to Starmer’s answer, BLMUK accused Sir Keir of being "a cop in an expensive suit."

A Labour-affiliated (@WarwickLabour) Twitter account has since stated they are "disgusted" with the interview the Leader of the Opposition gave.

And now, the Conservative Party’s candidate for next May’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections in Northumbria, Duncan Crute, has tweeted the incumbent PCC, Kim McGuinness, asking her to clarify her own position.

Mr Crute tweeted: "As a PCC what do you make of this? Should Labour Party groups really be calling on our police force to be abolished? Do you agree with them?"

Commenting on the call, Duncan said: “Deliberately seeking a lawless society is just nonsense, and Sir Keir was correct to make that point. As the Labour Party seem to be unable to reach a consensus on whether or not they support our police force, I think our Police and Crime Commissioner here has a duty to make her position known.

“Next year, we will be going to the polls to decide who should be the PCC for Northumbria Police. I can state unequivocally that I will be fighting to increase police funding, not defunding them.”

At the time of writing, Kim McGuinness had not responded to the tweet.

Duncan Crute is the formally selected Conservative Party candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections for the Northumbria electoral area, which are due to be held on May 6, 2021, having been delayed due to Covid-19.