Encourage PCC voting - Cameron

David Cameron has said he is more concerned about encouraging people to go out and vote in the upcoming police and crime commissioner (PCC) elections than he is about low turnout.

The Prime Minister said he hoped the public would recognise the importance of the vote amid fears that people would not go to polling stations on November 15.

"Instead of worrying about low turnout we should be encouraging people to go out and vote," he said.

"This is an important election. We care passionately in this country about law and order, about policing, this is the first opportunity to have real local accountability where people can go out and vote for one person who'll be the go-to person, the local law and order champion to hold the police to account and make sure the public get the policing they want.

"It's a great idea and I hope the public will support it."

During a visit to charity Twenty Twenty in Loughborough, Leicestershire, Mr Cameron met a group of young people and briefly joined them in a game of pool. He said he did not think electing one person as PCC would be giving them too much power.

"In our system we guarantee by law the independence of the Chief Constable," he said.

"The operational decisions of the police will be made by the police. No-one's going to be instructing them on who to arrest or what crimes to investigate but the police should be accountable.

"They should account for the money they spend, for the work that they do and the public needs to be able to say to the police: 'These are our priorities - anti-social behaviour, dealing with low level crime on our streets and in our communities, making sure we police rural communities properly.'

"It's right that there's a mechanism for the police to listen to the public."