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Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Met Police urged to release bodycam video from Dawn Butler car stop

Met Police urged to release bodycam video from Dawn Butler car stop

Prime Minister Boris Johnson today said Scotland Yard should act with 'fairness and equality' after it apologised to Dawn Butler for 'racially profiled' vehicle stop in Hackney over the weekend

The police federation chief representing the officers who stopped MP Dawn Butler's car described allegations of institutional racism as 'bonkers', declaring 'Yet again we have been thrown into the limelight for just policing without fear or favour'

Ken Marsh, the Metropolitan Police Federation chairman, said the officers involved were 'fed-up' the force had been put in the spotlight again.

And he told MailOnline he wanted the body worn camera film of the stop to be released to the public so it could decide itself about the stop.

Mr Marsh said: 'I would call for the release of the footage so everyone make their own mind up. The Met is so far from being institutional racist it's bonkers. It's just a comment that is wheeled out by people.

'They won't allow the body worn camera footage to be released, a member of the public can film my colleagues and put it on social media and put it around the world.

'We are pushing for it, I want it out there as much as anyone.

'They stopped the car because this is our job.

'The officers are fine, I haven't personally spoken to them but one of my reps has. They are just fed-up that yet again we have been thrown into the limelight for just policing without fear or favour.'

It came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted Scotland Yard was not racist but said it should act with 'fairness and equality' after it apologised to Dawn Butler for a 'racially profiled' vehicle stop in Hackney.

He spoke out as she again questioned why police pulled over her and her friend as they drove through London, adding 'all I can tell you factually is I'm black, my friend is black and he's got a fairly decent car'.

The MP for Brent Central yesterday accused the police of racially profiling her after she was pulled over while driving in East London.

Scotland Yard said the stop was a result of an officer having 'incorrectly entered' the car's registration plate into a computer to wrongly identify it as a vehicle registered to Yorkshire, but did not explain why the search was carried out in the first place.

Downing Street insisted this afternoon Boris Johnson did not share Ms Butler's view that the Metropolitan Police was 'institutionally racist'.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'No, I don't think the PM would take that view of the Metropolitan Police.

'The Met, like police forces across England and Wales, are working very hard tackling issues such as knife crime and drugs.'



The MP for Brent Central (hand seen left) filmed her heated confrontation in Hackney with two officers in a stop and search that sparked the PM to urge police to show 'fairness and equality'



Earlier in the day Mr Johnson spoke during a visit to a school in east London, on the subject and stressed: 'The police have made a statement saying that they made a mistake.

'They have spoken to the occupants of the car but it's obviously very, very important that the Met continue to do everything that they can - as indeed they do - to show that they are serving every part of our country, every part of our community, with fairness and equality.'

Ms Butler, 50, herself confirmed officers had told her and the driver they had put their registration number into the system and it had come back registered in north Yorkshire.



After being left 'irritated and angry', she has branded the Metropolitan Police 'institutionally racist




She said: 'The police came back and said oh yes the car is registered to you in your name, then the other guy, the younger police officer was asking me if I lived in London, what I was doing in the area, if I was going out where was I going, and I found that quite invasive and I was saying 'It's none of your business where I am going why is that relevant to stopping and searching'.

'I still don't why the police punched the number plate into their system, I don't know what raised their suspicion all I can tell you factually is I'm black, my friend is black and he's got a fairly decent car.'

Ms Butler filmed her heated confrontation in Hackney with two officers, who she claims demanded to know what was in the back of car.

She told the BBC: 'I said to my friend what's happening and he said they're stopping us and I thought 'wow okay' and I thought I better start recording, this will make interesting research because just a few days earlier I was saying to Cressida Dick that stop and search doesn't work and racially profiling people doesn't work

'The police came over and he said the car was registered, he asked my friend's name and where he lived and where the car as registered to and he told him and he said that the car was coming up on their system as being registered in north Yorkshire and he was like 'I can't help you it's my car I know I have registered it', he said 'here you go, here's my driving licence', gave him his driving licence and he offered his driving licence because he gets stopped all the time.'

After being left 'irritated and angry', she yesterday branded the Metropolitan Police 'institutionally racist'.

She said: 'We were two black people in a car, driving through Hackney, and they thought they'll stop us.

'You can drive anywhere you want to. I mean we don't have a police state that says you're not allowed to drive from Brent to Hackney or from Chingford to Brent, you can drive anywhere you want.'

She added she had agreed to meet with local police bosses to discuss 'taking the bias out of the system.'

'It's about time we changed the system so it works for everyone and it's effective,' she told BBC Breakfast.

Ms Butler – who in 2015 became the third black woman to be elected an MP after Diane Abbott and Oona King - only yesterday called on Scotland Yard commissioner Cressida Dick to resign for failing to stamp out racism.

Her footage shows a uniformed constable standing outside her car, while a female officer's voice is heard off camera.

The MP says: 'I've been doing a lot of work with the police on stop and search, and how the police are stop and searching, and actually the way you do it and the way you profile is wrong.

'Because what you do is, you create an environment where you create animosity.

'And it's irritating because you cannot drive around on a Sunday afternoon whilst black because you're going to be stopped by the police.'

Speaking to Sky News, she said: 'The institution is racist. One of the other police officers came and said 'I can't see what's in the back of your car'.

'You don't need to see what's in the back of the car. Why do you need to see what's in the back of the car? What's that about?

'So there is an institutional racism in the police, we know that, and it needs to be taken out. It's cancerous and it needs to be cut out out of the police force. It's urgent, it's really urgent.'



Labour's Dawn Butler has railed on social media after being pulled over by police in East London



The MP said: 'I wasn't going to go live with this at all, but because the other police officer inflamed the situation so much, I was getting irritated and angry at the way she was approaching me.

'It's such a bad way to treat people. It's exhausting, and tiring and mentally draining.

'This is a police service that is supposed to police everyone, and I understand there are issues that need to be dealt with.

'But deal with it in an equitable way, don't deal with in an unfair way, in a bias way or a racist way.'

Scotland Yard explained the car was stopped because an officer 'incorrectly entered' its registration into a police occupier and identified it as a vehicle registered to an address in Yorkshire.

'Upon stopping the vehicle and speaking with the driver, it quickly became apparent that the registration had been entered incorrectly and was registered to the driver in London,' a statement said.

'Once the mistake was realised the officer sought to explain this to the occupants; they were then allowed on their way.'

The statement did not explain why the registration was entered in the first place.



After the stop, former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: 'This is so unsurprising. When will the Metropolitan Police give up on racial profiling?'


Shadow Lord Chancellor David Lammy tweeted 'big hugs' to his Labour colleague


Left-wing commentator Owen Jones sent his well wishes to Ms Butler on Twitter


Left-wing commentator Ash Sarkar sent her condolences to the Labour MP



A Met chief superintendent had earlier confirmed there had been a police stop and that the MP had expressed her 'concerns'.

Chief Superintendent Roy Smith said: 'I've just spoken with Dawn Butler by phone.

'She has given me a very balanced account of the incident. She was positive about one officer and gave feedback on others & the stop.

'We are listening to those concerns and Dawn is quite entitled to raise them.'

After the stop, former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: 'This is so unsurprising. When will the Metropolitan Police give up on racial profiling?'

Kate Osamor MP tweeted to her backbench Labour colleague: 'Hope you're ok?'

Labour leader Keir Starmer added: 'I reached out yesterday to Dawn Butler to discuss the incidence she reported and to offer our support. All allegations of racial profiling must be taken extremely seriously by the Metropolitan police.

'It is imperative that the Black community have trust and confidence in our police. The abuse Dawn has received over social media is wrong and must be condemned.'

Ms Butler, who served as Jeremy Corbyn's shadow minister for women and equalities, yesterday hit out at Metropolitan Police officers who rubbished the notion children should be invulnerable to arrest.

In a scathing rebuke, she tweeted: 'The problem is you are arresting children going for a bike ride or going to the shops for a loaf of bread.

'Not all African-Caribbean boys should be viewed as criminals! I should be surprised the police liked this but sadly I'm not.'

And in an article published yesterday, she called on Scotland Yard Commissioner Cressida Dick to resign for failing to stamp out 'institutional racism' within her ranks.

She wrote in Metro: 'In case anyone doubts the experiences of people of colour, the statistics are stark.

'The Met are four times more likely to use force on Black people. They have stopped and searched the equivalent of one in four young black men in London during lockdown.'

She added: 'At this most pivotal time the commissioner thought it appropriate to say that 'institutionally racist' is not a 'useful way to describe' the force, which is not only unhelpful but offensive.

'It is quite telling. Cressida Dick appears to be incapable of tackling this long-known problem, and incapable of showing solidarity with those people who suffer from it the most, so she should resign.'





The Metropolitan Police said it is looking into the episode and Ms Butler could not be reached.

This week Ms Butler was named by Vogue magazine as one of the 25 most influential women shaping 2020 for her support of Black Lives Matter protests.

She described her backing of the Marxist anti-racism movement as having led to threats of attack on her office and staff having 'drastically escalated'.

Last month Great Britain sprinter Bianca Williams and her partner Ricardo dos Santos were pulled from their car and handcuffed in front of their three-month-old son.

Nothing was found in the search and the Met referred itself to the police watchdog while Cressida Dick was forced to apologise for the 'distress' caused.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched an investigation into whether officers in England and Wales racially discriminate against ethnic minority people.

The latest official statistics for stop and search showed a disparity rate of 4.3 for all black, Asian and minority ethnic people and 9.7 for black people.

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