Senior Met officer attacks Sadiq Khan over Cressida Dick exit | Metropolitan Police
Leonard T. Koonce
3 min read
Scotland Yard management have attacked Cressida Dick’s ousting, saying ‘due process’ had been ignored by London Mayor Sadiq Khan and demanding the Home Secretary look into the Commissioner’s alleged unfair treatment the Metropolitan Police.
Sir Stephen House, the Met’s deputy commissioner and a close Dick ally, hit out at Khan, who publicly clashed with Dick this month, leading him to announce his resignation as head of the biggest force in British police.
On Wednesday, the Met declined to say what it was hoped any review would accomplish or say whether Dick hoped to stay on if a review found she had been treated unfairly.
The row followed revelations of hate messages circulating among officers at Charing Cross Police Station from 2016 to 2018. The mayor was furious that nine of them were still serving at the Met, two of whom were promoted.
Dick had been pressed to offer a plan to deal with the enormous problems facing the Met, and in the opinion of the mayor failed to do so. Dick then decided to resign as commissioner ahead of a scheduled meeting with Khan.
On Wednesday morning, House told the London Assembly’s Policing and Crime Committee that the mayor had been toying with the media rather than following a statutory process.
He said: “I feel deeply disappointed. There is a clear procedure in the law to allow the removal of a police chief. It was not followed in this case; he was not even initiated in this case.
“Due process was not followed, and instead we saw cases unfolding in the media. For this reason, I have written to the Home Secretary asking him to take stock of the events which took place.
House’s comments expose the simmering anger of Dick and his allies at the mayor insurance rejections that she was doing enough to deal with the Met’s crisis of confidence.
A senior law enforcement source said House’s request was likely in hopes that a review would rule in the commissioner’s favor so her resignation could be ‘overturned’. The Home Office confirmed receipt of House’s letter and said it would “respond in due course”.
The commissioner’s removal is prescribed by law, but Khan’s aides believe Dick’s decision to step down means it won’t be reversed.
House said Khan had recently been a “strong supporter” of Dick, believing she should be given a three-year extension to her term, not the two years granted by the Home Secretary in September 2021. House said Dick was “the outstanding police officer”. of his generation”.
A spokesperson for Khan said his actions were entirely appropriate.
“The Commissioner took the decision to step down after failing to deliver a substantive plan which gave the Mayor confidence that she could remove the Met’s serious cultural problems and regain the confidence of Londoners,” they said.
“His decision removed the need for the mayor to follow the statutory process. There is precedent for this series of events. Ian Blair resigned as commissioner in 2008 following the loss of confidence in him by the then mayor. It was Boris Johnson.
Dick’s departure date has yet to be announced. The turmoil at the Met comes as it investigates the Prime Minister and others about parties breaking lockdown rules.
House said Partygate’s investigation should take weeks, not months, and added that questionnaires sent to those who allegedly attended parties breaking the rules were now being sent back to detectives and assessed to see if fines were justified. .
