Jibes as Smith faces down police strike threat

By Michael Holden

BOURNEMOUTH (Reuters) - Home Secretary Jacqui Smith faced jibes and accusations of betrayal from angry police officers on Wednesday as she stood by her decision not to backdate their pay award, despite the threat of strike action.

Members of the Police Federation, the trade body which represents 140,000 rank and file officers in England and Wales, announced on Tuesday they had backed action to lobby for "full industrial rights".

It followed Smith's decision in December that a 2.5 percent pay rise, agreed by an independent tribunal, would not be backdated to September as expected.

"Setting out on the road to the right to strike will lead only to a dead-end," said the Home Secretary, facing down a frosty reception at the Federation's annual conference.

Smith endured a barrage of hostile questions from officers, demanding to know why she had made the decision which they argued was effectively only worth 1.9 percent and was the first time their arbitration award had not been agreed in full.

To often rapturous applause and laughter, Jan Berry, the Federation's chairman, mocked Smith for taking drugs in her youth and fellow minister Harriet Harman for wearing a stab proof jacket while out in south London.

On a more serious note, she accused Smith of breaking the bond of trust between the police and the government.

"It was a monumental mistake and I do not say this lightly when I say you betrayed the police service," she said.