Two very public apologies (and an apology for the apology): Is this a new low for the Met?

The force has been involved in a series of high-profile blunders, this week. Femi Oluwole asks how the Metropolitan Police has been allowed to put its foot in it so badly, for so long – with such damaging results

Campaign Against Antisemitism chief executive Gideon Falter was threatened with arrest near a pro-Palestine demonstration (Campaign Against Antisemitism/PA) (PA Media)

It’s been a terrible week for the Met Police, who have managed to mess up in relation to both Jewish and Black people.

The force’s reaction to Gideon Falter, the man who claimed he was threatened with arrest for being “openly Jewish”, shows an embarrassing level of political carelessness. And their continued failure to take the murder of Stephen Lawrence seriously proves they still haven’t learned the lessons of institutional racism, 29 years on from Stephen’s murder.

For both incidents to occur in the same week is a PR nightmare for the force, which was already struggling with public perception of its image.