London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026

Met police to be branded ‘institutionally sexist’ in landmark review

Met police to be branded ‘institutionally sexist’ in landmark review

Review of Met will call for leadership shake-up and more scrutiny by Mayor
The Metropolitan Police is set to be branded “institutionally sexist” in a landmark report into the scandal-hit force. Baroness Dame Louise Casey’s review, due to be published on Tuesday, is also set to make similar findings about racism and homophobia in the force, the Standard understands.

She was appointed to compile the report in response to the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, who was a serving officer with Scotland Yard. The report, which comes in the wake of the crimes committed by Couzens, serial rapist David Carrick and other scandals, will also call for major improvements to the Met’s leadership and more rigorous monitoring of the force by Mayor Sadiq Khan.

It is expected to say the Mayor must reset City Hall’s relationship with the force. Mr Khan is set to be told to fix the “historic dysfunctional relationship” between police chiefs and the Mayor’s Office of Crime and Policing.

The force lacks a powerful regulator and MPs have become “frustrated” with the Met over its lack of transparency, with politicians struggling to get answers from senior officers.

The report is also expected to outline how management has failed to learn from “wider criticism” of high-profile cases and continued to have a “defensive culture”. It will be fiercely condemnatory of how Scotland Yard allowed the rot which has infected parts of the force to set in and express dismay about the damage to public confidence.

It comes as the toxic unit where Couzens and Carrick worked is facing the axe as part of an overhaul of disciplinary processes. Baroness Casey is understood to be calling for the effective dismantling of Scotland Yard’s parliamentary and diplomatic protection command.

Other proposed changes include strengthening disciplinary rules to ensure that more officers, including those involved in misogyny, racism or homophobia, can be dismissed for gross misconduct.

The Met is already bracing itself for one of the bleakest days in its history with Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens warning that the findings will create “raw” emotions while giving the majority of good officers the chance to “reset where needed”.

She pleaded for “calm reflection” over the findings.

The plea is unlikely to dampen the response when Baroness Casey’s damning 300-page report is published on Tuesday.

The finding that the force is “institutionally sexist” would echo the view of Dame Diana Johnson, the chair of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, who said in January that she viewed the Met as institutionally sexist because of its culture and the extent of misogyny in its ranks.

A section in the report on transparency in the Met is expected to point to the killing of unarmed Jermaine Baker in 2015 and the unsolved murder of Daniel Morgan.

Mr Baker was shot dead by a police marksman during a foiled attempt to break out an inmate from a prison van in 2015. A judge ruled the killing was lawful but there were failings at almost every stage of the operation.

Private investigator Mr Morgan, who allegedly had evidence of police corruption, was murdered in a pub car park in Sydenham in 1987.

Former Met Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, who was forced out of her job by Mr Khan last year, may have breached standards over the case of the murdered private investigator, the police watchdog found.

Home Office sources on Monday played down suggestions that changes could include breaking up the Met by stripping it of the national counter-terrorism command and transferring it instead to the National Crime Agency.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
Police Conduct Cross-Border Raids Against Northern England Drug Network
Nicola Sturgeon Protested at Edinburgh Festival Fringe Event
Major UK Retail Chain Enters Administration With One Hundred Fifty-Four Stores Set to Close
Heathrow Renews Call for Runway Expansion After Losing Europe’s Busiest Airport Ranking
Government Condemns One Million Pound Thames Water Executive Bonus Amid Drought
NHS England Says More Than One Hundred Thousand Hepatitis C Patients Have Been Cured
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Calls for End to West Bank Settler Violence
UK Prepares for Deepest Partial Solar Eclipse Since Nineteen Ninety-Nine
UK Heatwave Triggers Amber Health Alerts as Economic Losses Reach Four Point Four Billion Pounds
UK Offers Electricity Bill Discounts to Communities Hosting New Power Infrastructure
Bank of England Expected to Hold Interest Rates at Three Point Seven Five Percent
UK Government Moves to Ban Subscription Traps and Misleading Retail Discounts
Andy Burnham Gives Councils New Powers to Block Betting and Vape Shops
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Nicola Sturgeon Says She Has No Contact With Estranged Husband After SNP Embezzlement Case
Police Arrest Two Men After Aberdeenshire Defense Technology Office Break-In
Greater Manchester Councils Gain Powers to Restrict New Vape and Betting Shops
Coroner Finds Treasury Workplace Failures Contributed to Personal Assistant’s Suicide
English and Welsh Courts Ban Meta Smart Glasses Over Recording and Privacy Risks
Strait of Hormuz Disruption Could Double UK Inflation and Trigger Recession, Forecasters Warn
UK Expands Global Talent Visa Scheme to Support Research-Intensive Companies
UK Equity Funds Suffer Record One Point Six Billion Pound Outflow Amid Capital Gains Tax Fears
Three-Quarters of England Enters Drought as Fifth Summer Heatwave Raises Economic Risks
UK Hiring Stabilizes for First Time Since 2022 as Employers Adjust to Higher Payroll Costs
UK Chancellor Orders Whitehall Spending Cuts as Public Debt Exceeds Three Trillion Pounds
UK Manufacturing Output Records Fourth Straight Month of Growth
UK Condemns Russian Torture of Ukrainian Prisoners and Recruitment of Foreign Nationals
Long-Lost Royal Navy Warship HMS Tiger Found in English Channel After 118 Years
Northern Ireland Finance Minister Seeks Urgent Treasury Talks Over Regional Budget Pressures
UK Government Targets Subscription Traps and Misleading Discounts in New Consumer Rules
Alleged Cartel Boss Daniel Kinahan Extradited From Dubai to Face Criminal Charges
AI Chatbots Challenge Traditional News Consumption and Raise Job Concerns
Andy Burnham Government Promises Crackdown on Exploitative Business Practices
UK University Funding Model Faces Growing Pressure From Unsustainable Student Debt
Government Urged to Subsidise Energy Bills for Vulnerable UK Households
UK Military Spending Plans Threaten to Deepen Infrastructure Funding Gap
Israeli Government Rejects US Peace Framework for Gaza
New Labour Government Signals Closer Economic and Strategic Ties With European Union
Amber Heat-Health Alerts Issued Across England as Temperatures Threaten 36 Degrees
UK Economy Expected to Grow Despite Energy and Supply Chain Shock From Iran Conflict
Foreign Social Media Accounts Drove Disinformation During Belfast and Southampton Riots
Record Number of Migrants Cross English Channel in Single Vessel as Smugglers Deploy Mega-Dinghies
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Reports of Mark Zuckerberg-Linked Superyacht Declining Rescue Assistance Draw Maritime Scrutiny
Preserving Three Banksy Artworks in London Has Cost Taxpayers Nearly £150,000
Four Ugandan Athletes Disappear From Delegation After UK Sporting Events
×