London Mayor facing questions over resignation of Met Commissioner

Sadiq Khan facing questions after Dame Cressida Dick left her post

Sadiq Khan
Author: Louise EastonPublished 16th Nov 2022

The Mayor of London's facing questions over the resignation of the former Met Police Commissioner.

A report found Dame Cressida Dick "felt intimidated" into stepping down by Sadiq Khan and that ‘due process’ wasn’t followed.

The Mayor claims the review was "clearly biased" and "ignores the facts".

It’s author Sir Tom Winsor says that’s not the case.

"The idea that the facts have been ignored over 115 pages, facts have been gone into on a minute-by-minute detailed basis, they could not have been more painstakingly or thoroughly analysed."

The Met was buffeted by a series of scandals after the murder of marketing executive Sarah Everard by a serving officer and is facing one of the most troubled periods in its history.

It is in a form of special measures and has lurched from crisis to crisis over serious problems with the culture in the force, including racist, sexist and homophobic messages sent by officers based at Charing Cross, and the jailing of two officers for sharing images of the bodies of murder victims Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.

The force has also faced criticism over its counter-corruption measures and problems with misconduct processes that have left hundreds of officers in their jobs who should have been kicked out.

This is on top of national concerns about vetting in England and Wales, which could have left thousands of corrupt officers in post.

Mr Khan was said to have given Dame Cressida an ultimatum in the final weeks of her tenure to make changes to her plans to improve the force or he would issue a statement of no confidence in her.

Her then deputy Sir Stephen House claimed that due process had not been followed and wrote to the Home Office to ask for a review, before Sir Thomas was called in to investigate.

Sir Mark Rowley has since been brought in as Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

The mood between Dame Cressida and Mr Khan was laid bare when he told journalists in October: "We now have a commissioner who's not in denial.

"He's not lethargic, he's not arrogant, he's not defensive."

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