London’s police guilty of ‘systemic’ sexism, racism and homophobia, says mayor

New commissioner must have plan to deal with ‘real problems’ undermining trust and confidence, says Sadiq Khan

(BBC)

The Metropolitan Police is facing “real problems” of systemic sexism, racism and homophobia within the service, London mayor Sadiq Khan has said.

Mr Khan said that the force’s new commissioner must have a plan to address these challenges in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, the botched investigation of Stephen Port’s killing of gay men and misogynistic behaviour at Charing Cross police station and elsewhere.

And he said the Met’s new leader must show that he or she is able to win back the trust and confidence that many Londoners have lost in the capital’s police force.

The mayor, who forced former commissioner Dame Cressida Dick out in February by declaring he had lost confidence in her, was asked on BBC1’s Sunday Morning whether the Met was “a failing police force”.

He replied: “We’re losing trust and confidence. So if that’s the criteria of measurement, then you could say so.”

Mr Khan added: “I think it has real challenges.

“It’s possible to recognise the dedicated, decent, brave officers we have in the police service but to also say we’ve got real problems - real problems that have been shown recently in relation to evidence of overt systemic sexism, racism, homophobia, discrimination, misogyny - which need to be addressed.

“What’s really important is that the new commissioner appointed by the home secretary (Priti Patel) - and she’ll be consulting me - understands the challenges we have as a police service and takes steps to address those challenges, but also to win back the trust and confidence of too many Londoners that has been lost.”

He added: “One of the reasons why I lost confidence in the previous commissioner was my lack of confidence in her plans to address the two big issues - addressing the systemic racism, sexism, homophobia and misogyny, but also the trust and confidence required from our public when you police by consent.

“That’s one of the things that we’ll be checking the new commissioner for, does he have a plan to address those two issues at the same time as continuing to make further progress in bringing down crime?”

Mr Khan said he had not been given detailed explanations by the Met over why they fined some people involved in lockdown-breaching parties at 10 Downing Street, or why prime minister Boris Johnson was fined in relation to one event but not others.

Asked whether it was the case that the police investigated Partygate allegations less thoroughly than they might have done because they did not want to upset No 10, he replied: “I don’t know whether it’s true, but that perception has got to be addressed. Why? Because the police must police without fear or favour.”

He said he hoped the issue would be addressed in a court case being brought by former Met deputy assistant commissioner Lord Paddick, who alleges that the force’s Operation Hillman team acted “irrationally” in their decisions on fixed penalty notices for lockdown breaches.