Home Secretary statement on Daniel Morgan Independent Panel

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the Report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel.

Daniel Morgan was murdered in London in 1987.

It is incredibly painful for his family and friends that five criminal investigations into his brutal death have brought no successful prosecutions.

In 2013, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Maidenhead, then Home Secretary, announced the creation of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel to review police handling of the murder investigations.

The Panel was asked to explore:

• police involvement in Daniel Morgan’s murder;

• whether anyone involved in the murder was protected by corrupt police officers;

• whether there was a subsequent failure to investigate corruption; and

• whether the incidence of connections between private investigators, police officers, the News of the World, or other parts of the media.

The Independent Panel has now completed its report. I am very grateful to them and Baroness Nuala O’Loan.

As Home Secretary, Mr Speaker, it was my responsibility to ensure publishing the report was compatible with my statutory obligations in reflection to human rights and national security.

This was not about delay.

And I am pleased that no redactions were required.

Daniel Morgan’s family have waited eight years for this report. It is devastating that 34 years after he was murdered, nobody has been brought to justice.

The report sets out findings from its review of the last three decades – it’s over 1,200 pages and three volumes. It is right that we carefully review its findings.

Mr Speaker, the report itself is deeply alarming and finds examples of corrupt behaviour were not limited to the first investigation, that the Metropolitan Police made a litany of mistakes, and that this irreparably damaged the chances of a successful prosecution of Daniel Morgan’s murder.

The report accuses the Metropolitan Police of a form of institutional corruption.

Police corruption is a betrayal of everything policing stands for in this country.

It erodes public confidence in our entire criminal justice system.

It undermines democracy and civilised society.

We look to the police to protect us – and so they are invested with great power. The overwhelming majority of officers use it honourably.

But those who use their power for immoral ends do terrible harm – as do those who indulge, cover up, or ignore police corruption.

This is one of the most devastating episodes in the history of the Metropolitan Police.

In recent years, Mr Speaker, several steps have been taken to combat police corruption.

A new offence of police corruption, solely applicable to police officers, was introduced by my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Maidenhead in 2015, to sit alongside the existing offences of misconduct in public office.

The offence carries a maximum prison sentence of fourteen years.

To prevent corrupt officers evading accountability by resigning or retiring, the Policing and Crime Act 2017 enabled the extension of disciplinary procedures to former officers.

It also ensures that if an officer under investigation for gross misconduct resigns or retires, misconduct proceedings can still take place, and the officer can be barred from re-joining the police.

Last year, Mr Speaker, I overhauled the police complaints and discipline process.

There is now a more efficient system for dealing with police misconduct.

The investigation process is simpler and quicker - and an explanation is required if an investigation takes longer than twelve months.

It is in the interests of both the police and the public that corrupt police officers are exposed and innocent ones exonerated as swiftly as possible.

The Group of States Against Corruption monitors countries’ compliance with the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption standards.

And this month it published a report demonstrating good progress in UK law enforcement to prevent corruption.

But Mr Speaker, we cannot ignore the findings of this report.

Its recommendations are wide ranging and far reaching across aspects of policing, conduct, culture and transparency in public institutions.

Today I have written to Dame Cressida Dick to ask her to provide me with a detailed response into the Panel’s recommendations for the Metropolitan Police - and the wider issues outlined within the report.

This afternoon I will also ask Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services to consider how best it can look into the issues raised.

The police, Mr Speaker, are operationally independent, and the Metropolitan Police are held to account by the Mayor of London and the Mayor Office’s for Policing and Crime.

But the police are accountable to Parliament through me.

I intend to return to the House to update on progress made on this and the other recommendations made in the report once I have received responses from the Metropolitan Police and others.

Mr Speaker, there can be no confidence in the integrity of policing without confidence in the police watchdog.

The IOPC has made good progress since it was formed in 2018, but questions remain about its ability to hold the police to account.

In particular, profound concerns exist around the handling of the IOPC’s investigation into Operation Midland. The issues raised by the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel further reinforce the need for a strong police watchdog.

I am therefore announcing today that I am bringing forward the next periodic review of the IOPC to start this summer. This will include an assessment of the IOPC’s effectiveness and efficiency.

Mr Speaker, Daniel Morgan deserved far, far better than this, as did his family.

And to them on what will be a very, very difficult day, I say that the whole House will have them and Daniel in our thoughts. I commend this statement to the House.