London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

Priti Patel partly responsible for lack of trust in police, says Labour

Priti Patel partly responsible for lack of trust in police, says Labour

Keir Starmer places Tories’ record on crime at heart of Labour’s local election campaign
Priti Patel must shoulder some blame for the public’s plunging trust in the police in the wake of Cressida Dick’s resignation, her Labour counterpart said on Sunday.

It comes as Keir Starmer placed the Tories’ record on crime at the heart of Labour’s local election campaign which launched just days after the Met commissioner’s departure, and as Boris Johnson faces possible fines for attending parties during lockdown.

Yvette Cooper said the home secretary had been “silent” on policing for a year while failing to implement reforms or defend the model of policing by consent.

Her criticisms follow Dick’s dramatic resignation on Thursday evening after the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, made clear he had no confidence in her plans to reform the service.

On Sunday morning, Labour and the Conservatives traded blows over police failings and who was to blame for Dick’s surprise resignation after a series of scandals around misogyny and racism within the Metropolitan police.

Appearing on BBC One’s Sunday Morning programme, Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said Patel had failed to tackle systemic and cultural issues including reforms to training, vetting and misconduct strategy.

“At the moment, there’s been none of those reforms from the home secretary. The home secretary has been silent on policing for a year,” she said.

Sources close to Patel have hit back, claiming the home secretary had begun reforming police training colleges and police crime commissioners, and had sent Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary into the Met.

“What does she [Cooper] actually want to do? She just says reform vetting and training, but what?” said an aide.

In the latest strategic move by Labour which will seek to capitalise on the possibility of fines being imposed on Johnson and his staff, Starmer said that the government “do one thing and say another” when it comes to tackling crime.

The former director of public prosecutions said violent youth crime has cost £11bn since the Conservatives took office in 2010.

“The Tories are creating a perfect storm of failing communities that don’t feel safe, failing to tackle violent crime and failing to provide the ambition and opportunities young people need to make positive choices,” he said.

Dick’s departure followed a barrage of criticism of the force including over its handling of the case of Sarah Everard, who was raped and murdered by a serving Met officer, and recent revelations of officers bragging about violence towards women and exchanging racist and Islamophobic messages.

Patel was angered by the London mayor’s failure to inform her that he had called Dick to a meeting on Thursday afternoon, which she considered “unprofessional”.

The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, claimed on Sunday that Khan had played politics to force Dick out. He told Times Radio: “I think he should’ve been consulting with the home secretary, bearing in mind this is a man who just a couple of months ago extended Cressida Dick’s contract.”

Asked if he thought the mayor was playing politics, he responded: “Possibly, to be frank.”

Responding to Lewis’s comments, a source close to Khan said it was the mayor’s job to hold the Met to account. They said: “It is absolutely right that he ensures it has the right leadership to command the trust and confidence of Londoners.”

Pressure is building on Patel and Khan to agree on who will replace Dick, amid reports that the home secretary could look abroad for a successor. The Mail on Sunday claimed that among the shortlisted officers were the Queensland police commissioner, Katarina Carroll.

By convention, the commissioner is drawn from the ranks of serving senior officers in the UK. Home Office sources said they could recruit from abroad but it was likely the next commissioner would come from the UK.

In the Observer this weekend, Khan wrote that he would not support the appointment of a new commissioner “unless they can clearly demonstrate that they understand the scale of the cultural problems within the Met and the urgency with which they must be addressed”.

The mayor’s office for policing and crime is in discussions with the Home Office about the process to recruit the next commissioner. Sources close to the mayor indicated that he remained “open-minded” as to who that person might be.

Whoever follows Dick will have to deal with “a real cultural issue” in the force that cannot be fixed overnight, according to the former HM inspector of constabulary Zoë Billingham. She told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday: “Whoever the incoming commissioner is, they will have a very very full inbox. They will have precisely the same problems that Cressida was contending with to deal with.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×