Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con) (Urgent Question): To ask the Home
Secretary if she will make a statement on the Independent Office
for Police Conduct report on police officers’ conduct at Charing
Cross police station. The Minister for Crime and Policing (Kit
Malthouse) As the House is aware, the Independent Office for Police
Conduct yesterday published the findings of an investigation into
bullying and discrimination at Charing Cross police station between
2016...Request free trial
(Hendon) (Con)
(Urgent Question): To ask the Home Secretary if she will make a
statement on the Independent Office for Police Conduct report on
police officers’ conduct at Charing Cross police station.
The Minister for Crime and Policing ()
As the House is aware, the Independent Office for Police Conduct
yesterday published the findings of an investigation into
bullying and discrimination at Charing Cross police station
between 2016 and 2018. The report makes extremely disturbing
reading. It describes abhorrent behaviour and misogynistic,
racist and homophobic communications between officers, which
appear to have become commonplace. On a personal note, as someone
who knows the Met well, I cannot begin to describe my horror at
the revelations in the report.
It is right that individuals found to have committed gross
misconduct have been dismissed and cannot re-join policing.
However, this is obviously about more than individuals; it is
about how a toxic culture can develop and fester in parts of a
police force—a culture that is allowed to go unchallenged until a
brave officer blows the whistle or a message is discovered on an
officer’s phone. These events have a corrosive impact on public
trust in policing and undermine the work of the thousands of
diligent and brave police officers who keep us safe every day. I
am grateful for the work of the IOPC in investigating these
allegations, and I expect the Metropolitan Police Service and the
Mayor of London to implement the report’s recommendations as soon
as practically possible.
We are also taking action to address these issues. The Home
Secretary has established the Angiolini inquiry, which has now
started, and Dame Elish is examining the career of Sarah
Everard’s killer. While focused on that case, she will be
considering whether the culture in the places where Sarah’s
murderer worked meant that alarm bells did not ring earlier. In
the second part of her inquiry, we expect a light to be shone on
wider policing, including on those cultural issues.
In addition, at the Home Secretary’s request, Her Majesty’s
inspectorate of constabulary and fire rescue services is
currently inspecting forces across England and Wales to judge
their vetting and counter-corruption capabilities. As part of
this, we have specifically asked it to look at how forces are
ensuring that misogyny and sexism are identified are dealt with
in the workplace. We are also working closely with the National
Police Chiefs’ Council to ensure professional standards on social
media use for all police officers.
Being a police officer is an honour, conferring special status on
those who serve. The findings of the IOPC’s report are shaming
for those who have abused that honour and for the Metropolitan
police. Standards must be raised. The precious bond of trust
between the public and the police depends upon it.
Dr Offord
As a London MP, there are few opportunities to seek answers on
the performance of the Metropolitan police, so I am grateful to
you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question.
The publication of the report by the Independent Office for
Police Conduct joins the list of misdemeanours that have occurred
in the Met in recent years. The IOPC opened its investigation in
March 2018 following claims that an officer had sex with a drunk
person at a police station. This is, in itself, a criminal
offence, and it is even more shocking following the rape and
murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer less than a
year ago. The report says that officers searched social media
with the intention of having sex with people they have made
contact with through being a victim of crime. This is an
egregious breach of trust with the public and must be addressed
immediately. Officers were found to have sent messages to a
female on a shared group chat saying:
“I would happily rape you…if I was single I would happily
chloroform you.”
Other officers gleefully boasted about their behaviour by sending
messages including:
“You ever slapped your missus? It makes them love you more.
Seriously since I did that she won’t leave me alone…Knock a bird
about and she will love you. Human nature.”
It surely is not.
The investigation uncovered evidence in relation to bullying,
violence towards women, perverting the course of justice,
discriminatory language and other inappropriate behaviours. The
range and severity of these messages demonstrates that they are
not humorous comments but evidence of a sinister and obnoxious
culture that has pervaded the very organisation and individuals
who are supposed to uphold the law. Worst of all, it tarnishes
the reputations of all the decent, hard-working employees of the
MPS.
Where is the Mayor of London in all this? Recently we heard his
comments on the cost of living, accusations about the Prime
Minister, Brexit, levelling up and drug decriminalisation—on
everything except what he is responsible for, the policing of
London. While more young people are murdered on the streets of
London and police officers commit crimes, we need leadership on
keeping Londoners safe, and that is not happening.
Will the Minister, first, look at the Sexual Offences Act 2003
with a view to changing the law so that any person, of any age,
who is in a position of trust with any other persons, regardless
of their age, commits a criminal offence if they seek to involve
the other person in sexual activity? Secondly, will he expand and
speed up Baroness Casey’s review of the Metropolitan police’s
culture and standards to take into account behaviours outside the
realm of the workplace so that proper background checks are made
on the appointment of MPS staff in all departments, including the
MO7 taskforce? Finally, will he seek the establishment of a
confidential complaints system in the MPS so that whistleblowers,
particularly women, can raise their concerns without being
subjected to campaigns of threats, intimidation, coercion and
abuse by others?
Confidence in the MPS is incredibly low following a number of
abuses. If the public decide they no longer have confidence in
those who police them, then that really would be a crime.
I share my hon. Friend’s horror at some of the messages that have
been published, which really are abhorrent. As I understand it,
the unit that is being investigated has since been disbanded, and
quite rightly so, with disciplinary action following.
With regard to my hon. Friend’s specific requests, on the
offence, I am certainly happy to look at that suggestion and
explore it further as a possibility. On the Casey review, he is
quite right that Dame has been appointed by the
Metropolitan Police Commissioner to examine cultural issues
within the force.
Obviously, that started with the appalling killing of Sarah
Everard and the consequences thereof, but I am sure, knowing Dame
Louise as I do, that she will be looking closely at all these
issues as they unfold, sadly, on an almost weekly basis in the
newspapers. I have asked today for a meeting with her so that I
can understand exactly where her inquiry is going and establish
for myself that it will fit neatly with the work we are doing,
through the inspectorate and through the Angiolini inquiry, into
wider issues of culture in the Met and elsewhere in policing. On
the establishment of whistle-blowing systems, one of our specific
requests of the inspectorate as it looks at all the police forces
across the UK is that it make sures that adequate whistleblowing
facilities are in place—or that the process is there—that will
allow officers who want to call out bad behaviour to do so with
confidence. Again, it is worth saying that although it is
possible to put in place processes, practices, manuals and
training, and we can do our best to train police officers and to
instil in them the right values—that has never been more
important than now, as we are having such a huge influx of new,
young police officers waiting to be filled with the right kind of
values—this still does point to a culture of leadership making it
clear that such behaviour is not to be tolerated, and projecting
confidence on officers to step forward and call out bad behaviour
and this kind of communication. Whatever the processes we put in
place, unless the wider leadership of UK policing is able to
project that confidence, I think we will fail in our mission.
(Croydon Central) (Lab)
May I associate myself with the comments from the Minister,
particularly his thanks to the IOPC for the report? The behaviour
outlined in the report is truly appalling. As a woman and a
mother, I found it chilling. Such shameful behaviour undermines
policing and threatens public trust. The Metropolitan police must
accept and urgently implement the IOPC’s 15 recommendations.
Sadly, this is not just an issue in London; there have been
disgraceful cases involving misogyny or racism among officers in
Sussex, Hampshire, Leicestershire and Scotland. Ministers will
know about these—we have been aware of them for some years. It is
not good enough to leave police forces to solve these problems,
or to wait until all the different reviews are completed. We need
action now from the Government to tackle discrimination and
prejudice within policing, and to help rebuild confidence.
Police training needs overhauling now, so that police officers
get ongoing training throughout their careers, including on
anti-racism and on tackling violence against women and girls.
Action is needed now on the wholly inappropriate use of social
media to perpetuate prejudice or bullying. What are the
Government doing now to make sure that that happens? Action is
needed now to tackle racism within the police force, but the
National Police Chiefs’ Council action plan on race is 18 months
overdue. Why is the Home Office not making sure that this happens
sooner?
The Home Office inquiry after the murder of Sarah Everard is
still non-statutory, meaning that it still does not have the full
range of powers. Will the Minister listen to Labour’s calls and
place it on a statutory footing? If the Government want to show
that they believe in tackling misogyny, at a time when the rape
charge rate has fallen to a record low of 1.3%, will the Minister
finally commit now to making tackling violence against women a
strategic policing requirement?
Confidence in the police is absolutely fundamental—to protecting
victims, catching criminals and keeping our communities safe. We
all want the police to be the best that they can be—victims
deserve it, the public deserve it and all good police officers
deserve it. We need a plan from the Government to make sure that
that happens. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner must now spend
every minute of her remaining time working to make the Met the
best that it can be. That means tackling serious violence, and
violence against women and girls, and getting prosecution rates
up, but it also means a relentless focus on raising standards.
Nothing less will do.
I recognise that the hon. Lady’s job is to challenge the
Government to do ever better, and I welcome her doing so, but I
hope she will bring the same forensic challenge to the Mayor of
London. Having done the job of deputy Mayor for policing and
crime, I would certainly have taken responsibility for driving
such changes forward from City Hall. Indeed, we faced similar
problems between 2008 and 2012, established our own race and
faith inquiry and drove through some of the very difficult
reforms that were required a decade ago. I hope she will speak to
her party colleague in City Hall and press him also to bring
action.
While the hon. Lady is right to urge us into ever-greater action
on these matters, I know she recognises that there is plenty of
work already ongoing. We are, for example, working closely with
the National Police Chiefs’ Council as part of the new national
working group on inappropriate social media use by police
officers, working out what more we can do to drive that down. I
recently met the chair of the scrutiny panel for the NPCC race
and equality plan, and I am confident she will be able to bring
impetus, momentum and scrutiny to the work it is doing.
We have not made the Angiolini inquiry statutory, because we want
to get on with it. We need speed if we are to solve some of these
problems fast and maintain confidence in UK policing. If we find,
in discussion with Dame Elish, that the statutory basis is
required, we will consider that. For the moment, we want to get
on with it fast and, as I say, the work has already started. We
do not believe, given the way the police regulations are drawn,
that Dame Elish will face any obstacle in obtaining the evidence
she needs from those forces involved in stage 1 of the inquiry,
but if obstacles are put in her way, we are committed to trying
to remove them for her. We are examining the strategic policing
requirement at the moment and will make announcements about what
is or is not included in it in the months to come.
(Cities of London and
Westminster) (Con)
Words cannot really cover how I felt when I read the IOPC report;
that anybody could think that using such language is acceptable,
let alone police officers—and police officers based in my
constituency, in a police station just up the road. I will be
meeting the borough commander for Westminster tomorrow to discuss
the report and how he and his colleagues plan to bring its
recommendations to pass. I also welcome the review by Dame ; I have worked with her for
many years and I know she will leave no stone unturned when it
comes to looking at the culture of the Metropolitan Police.
Does my right hon. Friend agree, however, that although it is
clear there are rogue police officers in the Metropolitan Police
and other police services, there are thousands and thousands of
dedicated and hardworking police officers up and down the country
who are equally disgusted? Will he join me in thanking them for
their service?
I share my hon. Friend’s disgust at these events. As a former
Westminster councillor and the London Assembly member for the
area that includes Charing Cross police station, and having
visited the police station to see its work in policing one of the
most diverse, sensitive and difficult parts of the country and
the capital, I find it shocking to see such evidence. I agree
that that disgust and fury will be shared by the thousands of
police officers across the United Kingdom who do extraordinary
things every day to keep us safe. It will be shared not least,
given the nature of the messages, by the ever increasing numbers
of female and black and minority ethnic officers—the numbers in
UK policing are now at an all-time high in both categories—who
are doing their best to help us all in changing the face of
British policing.
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab)
This report is truly shocking. One key issue is the screening out
of unsuitable applicants right at the start. I want to ask about
current recruitment and vetting, as so many officers are now
being employed. Does the Minister believe that the use of solely
online recruitment, assessment, checks and offers is appropriate?
That is happening in several forces, where there are no
face-to-face interviews. One recruit said that the first time he
had a face-to-face interview was when he was being measured for
his uniform. I will just quote what Karen Ingala-Smith of the
anti-violence charity Nia said, referring to Sarah Everard’s
killer:
“Couzens was at least the 15th serving or former officer to have
killed a woman. Now is the time for more rigorous checks, not
fast-track online selection processes”.
As I am sure the Chair of the Select Committee will recognise,
the advent of the pandemic meant that we had to find innovative
ways to continue with our recruitment process. We are obviously
reviewing them as we emerge from the pandemic, to ensure that we
get them exactly right. As I explained earlier and as I am sure
the right hon. Lady knows, we have commissioned a general inquiry
across UK policing to look at vetting procedures to make sure
that the police across the UK have consistency—because each force
is responsible for its own vetting—and that that net is drawn as
sharply as we possibly can to ensure that we get the right people
into policing.
Critically, however, it is important that we monitor carefully
how those new young police officers coming through feel and what
they are being exposed to, and give them the confidence to know
that where there is bad behaviour, they are able to call it out
without detriment to themselves. There is not just one piece of
the jigsaw; an entire machine needs to be built to ensure
integrity in all police officers—to build confidence among the
British people that the right people are getting into policing,
that they are being maintained in policing and that, where things
go wrong, corrective action can be taken quickly.
(Basingstoke) (Con)
The racism, misogyny and bullying uncovered by the report are
damning, but I do not believe that it is reflective of the vast
majority of our police forces, as my right hon. Friend just said.
We owe it to those officers to root out this behaviour. The IOPC
started its investigations four years ago, and similar
investigations in Hampshire—as the Minister will know, as my near
neighbour—took three years. What is my right hon. Friend doing to
ensure that investigations are completed in a more reasonable
timeframe, and that anonymity is not used to hide those who are
involved in such heinous behaviours?
My right hon. Friend is quite right that we need to ensure that
inquiries are speeded up as much as possible. I hope that she
will remember that, a year or so ago, we introduced reforms to
the way in which the IOPC operates to push it to ever greater
alacrity in its inquiries. Now, in the case of an inquiry going
over 12 months, it is required to write a letter to the
appropriate authority—whether that is the police and crime
commissioner or me—to explain why. Often, the delay is the fault
not necessarily of the IOPC, but of inquests, criminal inquiries
or correspondence providing information that extends the
timeframe. However, we need to know why.
As far as transparency and anonymity are concerned, I have
written recently to all legally qualified chairs of disciplinary
panels to say that there should be a stringent examination of
whether those hearings need to be held in private or in public.
It is absolutely vital for trust in policing that the British
people not only know that justice is being done in a disciplinary
process, but can see it too.
Several hon. Members rose—
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
Order. I want to try to get everyone in but, as colleagues are
aware, we have another statement and then further business, so I
request that questions are short and to the point, which will
enable the Minister to be short and to the point as well.
(Bath) (LD)
In the last year alone, Cressida Dick was forced to make two
public apologies for corruption and cover-up, in the Daniel
Morgan murder case and—although she never apologised—for the
atrocious mishandling of the vigil for Sarah Everard. We have
seen the Met accused of institutional corruption, misogyny,
racism and, following the Stephen Port killings, homophobia, not
to mention the handling of the partygate fiasco. Now we have this
damning report on the Charing Cross police station by the
Independent Office for Police Conduct. This lack of leadership
and the culture of cover-up are letting down honourable
rank-and-file police officers, so why did the Home Secretary
think that it was remotely acceptable recently to extend Cressida
Dick’s term, as opposed to demanding her resignation?
Two of the matters that the hon. Lady refers to are still under
investigation by Her Majesty’s inspectorate and I hope that that
will conclude shortly. It is worth pointing out that this
incident was discovered shortly after the commissioner became
commissioner and the unit was disbanded shortly thereafter on her
watch. The reason that her contract was extended is that we
thought she was the best person for the job.
(Kensington) (Con)
As someone who represents a central London constituency, I am
shocked and horrified by these revelations and the toxic culture
that it represents in some parts of the Metropolitan police. Will
my right hon. Friend assure me that he will bring up these
concerns with the Mayor of London, because the Mayor needs to
take responsibility for sorting out the culture of the
Metropolitan police?
As somebody who, as I said, served in City Hall as deputy mayor
for policing, I can tell the House that the intention of the
Greater London Authority Act 1999, which created the mayoralty
and put the police authority and then the Metropolitan police
under the control of the Mayor of London, was to ensure that the
forensic examination of Met performance and internal processes
could be done as close to the frontline as possible and that the
Mayor should be in the driving seat.
(Westminster North) (Lab)
As one of the two Members of Parliament for Westminster, I have
always greatly valued and supported the work of our local police,
and I think that our good and decent police officers will also be
appalled by what they have seen in the past few days. They know
what we know—that policing a young, modern, diverse city such as
Westminster and London is founded on trust. That trust will also
be reflected by having a police service that reflects London, so
will the Minister tell us what immediate steps he is taking to
review the progress, which has faltered over recent years, in
ensuring that London’s police service is as diverse in all its
forms as the city that it polices?
Hon. Members will have seen that, as part of our uplift programme
not just in London, but elsewhere, we are specifically pushing to
increase diversity both in terms of gender and race within
policing. That is important nowhere more than in London and we
have been working closely with the Metropolitan police to
maximise the possibility of not only people from a BME
background, but women joining the police force.
(Vauxhall)
(Lab/Co-op)
The Minister will be aware that I have spoken about the issue of
the Met police on a number of occasions. I am very proud to
represent Vauxhall in south London. It is a diverse constituency
where, if I am honest, sometimes the relationship between the
community and the police can be fractious. We have a number of
great community leaders who are willing to work and build the
trust between the police and the community. However, reports such
as this just blow that confidence out. How can I reassure my
diverse community—my diverse community of young black children,
of LGBT people, of women who feel let down by the police—that
they can have confidence and trust in the police? How will the
Minister address the issues relating to the fact that, when we
come to summer, we will see our police out on the streets and the
young who are fearful of the police will not trust them, women
who want to go out across Vauxhall at night will be scared to
approach the police, and our LGBT people who want to go out and
enjoy themselves will not want to come forward to the police? How
is he going to address that culture now?
Having wrestled with these issues in the past, I completely agree
with the hon. Lady that it is totally critical that there is a
strong bond of trust with communities who have perhaps had a
fractious relationship with the police. I think that the best
thing that they can do is decide to be the change themselves, and
I urge all communities in London and elsewhere to put forward
their brightest and best to be police officers.
(Eltham) (Lab)
Cutting 21,000 police officers since 2010 has led to the rush to
recruit officers to backfill those gaps, and the vetting of those
officers is crucial. Does the Minister think that recruiting
people purely through interviews online and doing that vetting
purely online is suitable, given that the police are such a
customer-facing, hands-on—sometimes literally— service with the
public?
It is worth pointing out that, while the assessment process was
online, once those police officers enter training, it is not
accepted that they will necessarily be attested at the end. They
are constantly assessed throughout their training on whether or
not they are suitable. We continue to monitor their performance
not just through training and in the immediate months after their
acquisition, but thereafter. Having said that, we have to be
slightly careful to bear in mind that, of the 11,000-odd who have
stepped forward to be police officers, the vast majority of them
are bright, smart, well-meaning and well-motivated people with
the right kind of values to be police officers, and we have high
hopes for them in the future.
(Hampstead and Kilburn)
(Lab)
The report was chilling. What worried me most was that the
horrific cases were referred to the IOPC in 2018, yet the
concerns about sexist discrimination and sexual harassment in the
London Metropolitan police were not addressed by the time of the
horrific murders of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, and Sarah
Everard, who has been mentioned a few times. Like my hon. Friend
the Member for Vauxhall (), I have had young women
in my constituency writing to me and saying that they do not feel
safe walking around at night in my constituency. As someone who
had a bad experience with the police before I became an MP, I ask
the Minister to set out some tangible steps the Government are
taking to ensure that the misogyny in the force is tackled and
that they are actually doing a proper job, so I can reassure my
young constituents that they are safe to walk around in Hampstead
and Kilburn.
As I explained earlier, we are engaging at all levels with the
various actions plans that are in place to try to bring change in
policing. And, of course, we are injecting a much more diverse
shot of energy and personnel into policing through the uplift
programme. However, it is—I am not making a political
point—primarily the job of the Mayor of London to hold the
commissioner to account on these issues. We are sending in the
inspectors not just to London but to every force to look at their
vetting and anti-corruption processes to make sure they are
functioning well, but with a particular emphasis on the ability
internally to call out exactly this kind of behaviour. It appears
that this incident came to light after phones were brought in to
be checked after a previous incident—this was referred to by my
hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Dr Offord)—and they were
discovered almost accidentally. We have to ask why. Why were
there not police officers calling out that behaviour? That is
what we are sending in the inspectors to have a look at.
(Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister will understand that this case, among other things,
will reinforce the profound concern about the level of violence
towards women and the lack of accountability for men who are
responsible for that violence. As my hon. Friend the Member for
Croydon Central () alluded to in her remarks, the
Government have so far refused to make violence against women and
girls a strategic policing priority. Given the seriousness of
this latest report, the fact that it is not an isolated case and
the clear need for cultural change across the Metropolitan
police, will the Minister stop procrastinating and bring that
in?
We have not refused at all. We have said we will consider it,
along with all the other horrendous crimes that, sadly, teem
around this country and which we have to deal with. As I say, we
will publish our findings on the strategic policing requirement
shortly.
(North East Fife)
(LD)
I am the only female former police officer currently serving in
this place. Although I served with dedicated officers, I would be
lying if I said that I did not recognise an element of the
culture from my own service over 28 years ago. Training is
absolutely vital. Post the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, all police
officers and staff across the UK attended three days of diversity
training. It was a big undertaking, but it visibly demonstrated
to the public that we were taking this seriously. What steps is
the Minister taking and what conversations is he having with the
College of Policing for something similar?
The hon. Lady speaks with knowledge and she is exactly right. We
are in intensive conversation with the College of Policing,
which, as I hope she knows, is under new leadership, to ensure
that we get the package of training exactly right, and,
specifically, that the training catches up with modern phenomena,
which perhaps it has been a little slow to do, such as social
media.
(Battersea) (Lab)
The findings of this report were deeply shocking, but if we look
just at this last year, we have seen that the Metropolitan police
have deep-rooted structural problems, from racism to bullying to
misogyny. Currently, we have a commissioner in the job that I do
not believe is fit for purpose. Does the Minister agree that, to
really tackle the broken culture in the Metropolitan police, we
also need to change the commissioner?
I recognise that media coverage has the tendency to compress
time. It is worth pointing out that the issue came to light in
2017 and the unit was disbanded in 2018. Charing Cross police
station was merged into a wider borough operational command under
new leadership, which is committed to driving out this kind of
appalling behaviour. Whether that culture persists, and the
vigour with which the Met is pursuing it, will be revealed, we
hope, by both the Angiolini inquiry and the work of Dame . I urge the hon. Lady to wait
for those conclusions.
(Brentford and Isleworth)
(Lab)
This cultural problem does not just apply to Charing Cross, or
even, as my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon Central () said, to the Met. It also does
not just apply to middle-ranking and junior officers. As a
councillor and now a Member of this House, I worked with Chief
Superintendent and Chief Inspector Ricky
Kandohla, who were both found guilty last week of gross
misconduct and dismissed without notice for a series of offences.
The chief superintendent led the three-borough basic command unit
and was found to have committed bullying and discriminatory
conduct towards a female police officer, misuse of a bank card,
and impropriety over a promotion. Will the Minister assure the
House that any reviews will address the cultures within our
police forces right to the top of senior levels?
That is our intention.
(Cardiff North) (Lab)
The report not only makes for incredibly uncomfortable and
difficult reading, but destroys public confidence. This is not
just about the Met. Alongside the Government’s failure in the
criminal justice system, where victims are let down and rape
prosecutions have fallen to just 1.3%, how can the Minister
expect victims of serious sexual assault and rape across the
country to come forward? What will he do about that?
I have previously expressed sincere regret for the results in the
criminal justice system on rape. I hope the hon. Lady will
recognise that some of our actions—not least Operation Soteria,
which is showing good signs of making progress in this area—will
give people more confidence in getting a result. However, the
incidence of reported rape in this country continues to rise as
more and more people come forward to report that appalling crime,
and we must ensure that they are confident of getting justice
through the criminal justice system. That is what the
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend
the Member for Redditch (), and I are dedicated
to.
(Nottingham East) (Lab)
The IOPC’s report was truly damning, but it is not the only
example of misogyny in the Met police that has come to light in
the past couple of weeks. The Met has also been made to pay
compensation to a woman in Nottingham who was deceived into a
relationship with an undercover officer, and it has been made to
apologise to my constituent Dr Koshka Duff for misogynistic and
derogatory comments made before and after a strip search. Does
the Minister agree with the report’s conclusion that the
incidents the IOPC investigated are
“not isolated or simply the behaviour of a few ‘bad apples’”?
Will he commit to an independent, public, statutory inquiry into
institutional misogyny in the Metropolitan police?
Given the incidents we have seen—I too was appalled by the
incident to which the hon. Lady refers—it is hard not to agree
with the IOPC conclusions. As I have explained in the past few
minutes, several inquiries in this area are ongoing within the
Met, and I think it best to wait for them to conclude before
deciding on what the next steps may be.
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