Police cuts will be disaster for national security, warns counter-terrorism head

National security is being endangered by cuts to local policing, which amount to a potential disaster in the fight to stop Islamist and neo-Nazi attacks, according to one of Britain’s leading counter-terrorism police officers.Neil Basu, senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism, told the Guardian that two decades of progress in neighbourhood policing were at risk and that withdrawing police on the ground would mean losing the relationships and trust that yield crucial intelligence.