After a summer of protests from Epping to Palestine Action and beyond, policing leaders warned the service was under intolerable strain.
Now the Police Federation has warned those same leaders are proposing to weaken the protections around the very rest days that held it together.
The Federation, the body representing more than 145,000 police officers, says that is a reckless gamble with public safety.
In September 2025, following a summer where 3,000 protests were policed across the UK, NPCC Chair Gavin Stephens publicly acknowledged that cancelled leave and relentless protest demand have meant “we are asking too much of the people and the infrastructure that we have.”
He acknowledged that officers’ “precious time with their own loved ones” had been significantly disrupted through cancelled rest days and redeployments and described the current model of policing as “unsustainable”.
Police officers are currently entitled to a minimum four hours’ compensation at time and a half when they are required to work on a cancelled rest day or bank holiday, recognising the disruption to protected rest and family commitments.
In their submission to the police pay review body, Chief Constables propose to remove that safeguard with officers paid at time and one-third, calculated in 15-minute increments, for the exact time worked. The submission also seeks to tighten the rules around how cancelled rest days are re-rostered.
The Federation says with demand overwhelming most forces, policing is only viable because it places excessive burdens such as cancelled rest days on officers as a norm rather than exception. It warns in particular public order policing depends on such surge capacity.
John Partington, Police Federation National Secretary, said: "Everyday policing, never mind the sort of protests we saw in London and Epping last year, does not run on spare capacity. It runs on cancelled rest days.
"If policing leaders genuinely believe officers are already being asked to shoulder unsustainable demand, the answer cannot be to weaken the safeguards around that sacrifice. You cannot call the system unsustainable and then dilute the protections that keep it functioning. That is a reckless gamble with officer welfare and public safety.”
Tiff Lynch, Police Federation National Chair, said: “The hypocrisy of chief constables posting warm words for officers on LinkedIn at the same time as they’re working behind the scenes taking an axe to their conditions of service is breathtaking.
"The same officers praised for policing major protests, at the cost of their family time and rest, now face proposals that would make it easier and cheaper to intrude on that time again and again.
"Experienced officers – the ones whose nouse and resilience public order policing depends on, are leaving in record numbers and goodwill in policing is on life support.
"At a time of global uncertainty and threat, these crazy proposals make policing a less sustainable career and pose an unacceptable risk to public safety.”
