Catherine West MP MP for Hornsey & Wood Green and Labour Candidate for Hornsey & Friern Barnet
The Met Police urgently needs to regain the trust of Londoners. There are deep cultural problems in the force that have been exposed so clearly in recent appalling scandals and have been present for much longer. It’s no surprise that the HMIC has raised serious concerns and Mayor Sadiq Khan was right to seek change from the very top. I welcome this additional scrutiny, it must be the start of root and branch reform.
The Chair of the London Parliamentary Labour Party Dawn Butler MP has co-ordinated this letter from Labour London MPs to the Home Secretary, and I fully support it:
Dear Home Secretary,
We as London Labour Parliamentarians welcome the conclusions of a force wide inspection into the Met by the HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services which reports on the effectiveness and efficiency of police forces, fire and rescue) which found significant failings, and resulted in them placing the Met Police in special measures.
For several years now, as a collective group of London MPs we have been calling for changes in the Met in the public interest and we were often met with resistance. Rebuilding public support is essential for the Met to be fit for purpose.
As the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in his speech on police reform in June 2022, “The reality is that a series of appalling scandals have not only exposed deep cultural problems within the Met, but have contributed to an acute crisis of confidence in London’s police service.”
The Met police must tackle the problems of misogyny, racism and homophobia that have been highlighted through recent shocking reports. The situation has not been helped by the Conservative Government who has presided over a decade of austerity, cuts to policing and cuts to youth services.
We stress once again that, as Members of Parliament we represent our constituents and want to be involved in reform to help restore trust and confidence. The HMIC announcement strengthens and supports our arguments and we hope that change will follow. We await the findings of the HMIC investigation before commenting further on this.
Yours sincerely,
London Labour MPs