Sadiq Khan ordered to sort out crisis-hit Met Police: London Mayor told to take ‘immediate action’

A Tory MP today called for Sadiq Khan to be stripped of his powers over policing after the Met was placed in special measures following a string of falings – as the force was accused of being ‘too woke’ to tackle crime. 

Matthew Offord, MP for Hendon, said the Labour mayor had ‘failed to protect the public’, adding: ‘I would ask the minister to consider removing responsibility of policing from the Mayor of London and introducing an intervention team to deliver on the first rule of elected representatives, and that is to keep the public safe.’

Home Office minister Kit Malthouse replied: ‘Obviously the removal of responsibility would need primary legislation, but what I hope now is that the mayor will focus on the task in hand, which is to produce an action plan to sort this out and to step into his responsibility in a way frankly I feel he has failed to do thus far.’

Meanwhile, Tory MP Bob Blackman told MailOnline Mr Khan had ‘failed in his duty’ to make sure the Met was tackling crime, and particularly violent crime.

‘The fundamental role of the Mayor is to make sure Londoners are safe on the streets,’ he said.

On the Met failings the Harrow MP said: ‘There has been this attitude of being ‘right on’. They have got to be ‘woke’ and ‘trendy’ instead of dealing with violent crime. The average police officer I know is really angry about the sort of edicts that come from on high. They want to get on with the job of catching criminals and getting them into court.’  

Priti Patel has ordered Sadiq Khan to take ‘immediate action’ to sort out the failing Met as it was placed into special measures after a devastating inspection revealed a catalogue of new scandals – including 69,000 crimes going unrecorded every year. 

Scotland Yard was blasted ‘barely adequate standard of crime recording accuracy, with 69,000 crimes going unrecovered every year and almost no crimes recorded when victims report antisocial behaviour against them’. 

The Met has previously been blasted for its soft response to Extinction Rebellion protests, with footage of officers dancing with activists drawing ire from frustrated Londoners.  

 

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: ‘Unlike many others, the Mayor has long been clear that wide-ranging reforms are urgently needed for the Met to regain the trust and confidence of Londoners, which is so vital to policing by consent.

‘The Mayor has managed the Met through the devastating impacts of government austerity which saw officer numbers falling below 30,000 in London and took £1bn out of the budget. In spite of this, the Mayor has led the way with a plan to confront cultural and performance issues that are deeply rooted in the Met and achieved significant falls in violent crime across London by being tough on crime and the causes of crime.

‘Sadiq has consistently held the Met to account and called for action to deal with the cultural and systemic issues within London’s police force. He’s been clear with Londoners about the scale of the change required, but has faced opposition from the Government at every step, including when he lost confidence in the previous Met Commissioner.

‘Ministers should now focus on working with the Mayor and HMIC to improve policing and play their part in appointing a reforming Commissioner so that we can deliver the police reforms and step change in policing performance and culture that Londoners deserve.’

In a leaked letter to Acting Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Stephen House, Her Majesty’s Inspector Matt Parr warned the succession of scandals and ‘systemic concerns’ about the force’s performance is ‘likely to have a chilling effect on public trust and confidence in the Met’.

Mr Parr said victims were not told when officers were dropping their case, they were not given appropriate support, and officers were not seeking their views before finalising crime reports.

He went on to criticise ‘the lack of a detailed understanding of capacity and capability across all aspects of policing’, saying the Met had ‘an insufficiently comprehensive understanding of demand’.

The move triggered a row between Miss Patel and Mr Khan. In a statement the Home Secretary said: ‘I support the action that HMICFRS has taken today to highlight their failings – and I expect the Met and the London Mayor to take immediate action to begin addressing them.’ 

The unprecedented step means the Metropolitan Police will face external monitoring and must come up with an improvement plan. 

The damning indictment comes after Commissioner Cressida Dick was forced to quit in February following a torrid year of scandals which saw the murder of Sarah Everard by one of her officers, the force being branded ‘institutionally corrupt’ by an independent inquiry and two officers jailed for photographing bodies of murder victims.  

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) announced that ‘systemic concerns’ about the force’s performance raised by a new inspection had been so grave that the force needed to be put under special measures.

In the new inspection, which has yet to be made public in full, Her Majesty’s Inspector Matt Parr condemned the force’s performance in handling 999 and non-emergency calls, saying it is ‘falling far short of national standards’, with staff failing to assess vulnerability, identify repeat victims and not offering advice about preserving evidence to catch offenders.

Mr Parr said victims were not told when officers were dropping their case, they were not given appropriate support, and officers were not seeking their views before finalising crime reports.

He went on to criticise ‘the lack of a detailed understanding of capacity and capability across all aspects of policing’, saying the Metropolitan Police had ‘an insufficiently comprehensive understanding of demand’.

Yesterday a leaked letter from the police inspectorate revealed the force is failing victims across the board. The new annual inspection found: 

Around 69,000 crimes are going unrecorded each year and almost no crimes are recorded of anti-social behaviour.

• Handling of 999 calls is below national standards.
• There is insufficient supervision and oversight of some investigations.
• Officers fail to record the reason for a stop and search properly in a quarter of cases.
• The force has insufficient capacity to meet demand in public protection.
• There is a ‘persistently large backlog’ of online child abuse referrals.

Last week Scotland Yard revealed eight referrals about strip searches of children have been made to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) after two teenage girls were strip-searched by officers while they were menstruating.

Mr Parr also highlighted the investigation into four murders by serial killer Stephen Port, which he said was marred by ‘seemingly incomprehensible failures’.

He said Scotland Yard ‘hasn’t always shown a great willingness’ to learn from mistakes, echoing a report in March when he warned the ‘arrogant, secretive and lethargic’ force was failing to tackle corruption. 

The Metropolitan Police is now only one of a handful of forces ever to be placed under special measures, which the inspectorate refer to as an ‘engage phase’.  

Priti Patel said yesterday: ‘I expect the police to get the basics right. It is clear the Metropolitan Police Service is falling short of these expectations which is why I support the action that HMICFRS has taken today to highlight their failings – and I expect the Met and the London Mayor to take immediate action to begin addressing them.

‘The process to recruit a new Commissioner is well underway and I have made clear that the successful candidate must demonstrate sustained improvements in the Metropolitan Police Service in order to regain public trust both in London and across the country.

‘The new Commissioner will need to deliver on the public’s priorities for the police – making our streets safer, bearing down on crime and bringing more criminals to justice, while continuing to recruit thousands of new officers to protect local communities.’ 

But Mr Khan hit back, pointing out that he had been the one to force out Dame Cressida. A source close to the mayor said: ‘He will take no lessons in policing from the Home Secretary, who clearly was happy with the status quo and didn’t want any action taken.’

Sir Stephen has been summoned to a meeting next month to discuss a plan of action before a new commissioner is appointed.

A Met spokesman said: ‘We are determined to be a police service Londoners can be proud of. We are talking to the Inspectorate about next steps.’