Home Secretary Charles Clarke's attitude to the proposals to merge West Yorkshire Police into a regional "super-force" is akin to that of a spoiled playground bully.

Before consultations have concluded he has announced he wants the force to amalgamate with North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside. That's the bully in him. Reading between the lines of his written ministerial statement, it is also clear that he will spit his dummy out if the forces and police authorities have the temerity to disagree with him.

His ideas and visions may well have some merits and may contain ways forward to deal with the increasing threats of terrorism, serious and organised crime and other major incidents.

But if he was hoping to get the police forces, elected representatives and the tax-paying public on his side he has another thing coming.

In his statement, Mr Clarke says that merging the four forces would be "of the greatest benefit" to people in Yorkshire and Humber. How?

He issued the statement before the April 7 deadline for police chiefs to reply to the proposals. Why?

The plans are on two levels -- specialist expertise to deal with the big jobs and rolling-out neighbourhood policing by April 2008 to deal with local issues.

The whole vision is blinkered and the police forces, the Police Federation and West Yorkshire Police Authority have every right to be worried about the possibility of the plan lowering standards.

Even the most clever of criminal minds would struggle to work out just how Mr Clarke thinks his bombastic announcements are going to win him public support.

He appears to have let the tide of taxpayers' concern about policing levels and wanting the police to get closer to their communities, wash over him.

He would do well to remember that the elderly person, whose quality of life is being affected because they fear going out at certain times, is the same person who will shortly be being asked to vote for Labour at local elections. Questions to candidates should include when are we going to get town and village centre policing back -- plus a magistrates court in Keighley?