Plans to give the West Midlands mayor control of policing have been defended by a Conservative MP.

Andrew Mitchell (Con Sutton Coldfield) said similar changes had already taken place in Manchester and London, where they had been a success.

He spoke out after David Jamieson, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, attacked the plans - and claimed that they were designed to silence him.

Mr Jamieson, a Labour politician, has been a vocal critic of the Conservative Government's cuts to police budget.

And he said that plans to scrap his job and transfer responsibility to the mayor, currently Conservative politician Andy Street, were an attempt to "silence and discredit" him.

Andrew Mitchell

Mr Jaimieson also said the changes were being made "without rigorous consultation".

But Mr Mitchell said: "This is nothing to do with the personalities invovled."

He pointed out that the changes were included in a deal agreed in 2017 between the Government and the seven local councils which make up the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Most of these councils are Labour-run.

Similar changes had taken place in London and Greater Manchester, where both the mayors were Labour politicians, he said.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street

"We are behind the curve on this, because in both London and in Manchester the mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner have been combined, to generally agreed good effect.

"I welcome the move towards the amalgamation, which has been agreed cross party by the West Midlands Combined Authority, and hope that proposals for this amalgamation will come to fruition shortly, and in any event by the mayoralty elections to be held in 2020."

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has agreed a process for combining the position of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) with the mayoralty in time for the 2020 elections.

The combination of the two roles was a condition set out in the government's second devolution deal with the West Midlands earlier this year.

PCC David Jamieson.

But Mr Jamieson hinted that the entire process may be an attempt to silence him in his criticisms of government policing cuts.

"Concerns were raised that the mayor wanted to take over policing without rigorous consultation," he said.

"Some are now saying this is merely an effort to try and silence and discredit me because of my consistent campaigning against policing cuts."