London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

Sadiq Khan: New Met boss must have robust plan on culture problems

Sadiq Khan: New Met boss must have robust plan on culture problems

London's mayor has said he will oppose the appointment of a new Met Police chief unless they have a "robust plan" to deal with the force's "cultural problems".

Dame Cressida Dick resigned from the role on Thursday over Sadiq Khan's lack of confidence in her plans for reform.

Writing in the Observer, Mr Khan said he was "deeply concerned" public trust in the force had been "shattered".

He said the new appointment needed to make things happen fast.

Dame Cressida's resignation comes after a series of crises engulfed the Met Police, including cases of sexism and misogyny among some officers.

Last week, the police watchdog found "disgraceful" examples of bullying and sexual harassment at Charing Cross police station in central London.

The mayor is due to work with Home Secretary Priti Patel to find a replacement.

While the Conservative home secretary holds the power over the appointment, she must take the Labour mayor's preference into account.

Mr Khan wrote: "I will 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.

"In short, they need to get it, and they need to have a proper and robust plan to deal with it."

Mr Khan warned that people's confidence in the force must be restored after the wave of recent scandals.

Dame Cressida Dick took the role as Met Commissioner in 2017


The mayor also said that reading the damning Charing Cross report reminded him of "the bad old days of the Met from my childhood".

Mr Khan wrote: "Growing up in the 1970s and 80s on a council estate in south London, it was commonplace to hear stories of racist, misogynistic and abusive conduct by police officers.

"Trust in the police was at rock bottom in some communities and one of the things I remember being told as a teenager by my dad was: 'Don't make eye contact with the police, don't give them an excuse'."

Earlier in the week, Ms Patel said the new commissioner must tackle "policing culture and conduct".

In a statement, she said: "Be in no doubt that a new leader must tackle these institutional issues."

Ms Patel said the new commissioner must be "focused on the basics", including tackling the abuse of women and girls, drugs and knife crime.

"Policing culture and conduct have rightly come under scrutiny," she said.

"Be in no doubt that a new leader must tackle these institutional issues."

Home Secretary Priti Patel recently extended Dame Cressida Dick's contract


Yvette Cooper, Labour's shadow home secretary, said challenges facing policing were broader than one individual.

She told BBC One's Sunday Morning programme with Sophie Raworth: "Once that confidence was lost then the Met Commissioner was right to resign and I support the mayor's decision.

"But what I am concerned about in all of this debate is it's all focusing on one individual, one individual new appointment, and also one police force.

"I think the challenges for policing are much broader than this and there needs to be Home Office-led reforms in this area as well."

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis described how Mr Khan had pressured Dame Cressida out of her role as "rather odd".

Asked on Times Radio whether he thought the mayor was playing politics, he responded: "Possibly, to be frank."

Controversies of Cressida Dick's career

* Officers based at Charing Cross police station were found by an inquiry to have joked about rape and exchanged offensive social media messages. The Met said it was "deeply sorry"

* The delay to the publication of Sue Gray's full report into lockdown parties at Downing Street was a "stitch-up" between the Met and No 10, the SNP and Liberal Democrats said. The Met's investigation is ongoing

* The rape, abduction and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met Police officer prompted a wave of criticism and scrutiny

* Further controversy came when clashes broke out between women and police officers at a vigil in her memory, held under Covid lockdown measures

* There was condemnation of how police handled the murder of two women, Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, in a park in Wembley. Two constables were jailed for sharing photos of the murdered sisters' bodies and their mother said their disappearance would have been dealt with more urgently if they were white

* Dame Cressida also had to deal with the repercussions from the disastrous Operation Midland, the multimillion-pound investigation which saw detectives duped by false claims of a VIP sex abuse ring made by the paedophile and fantasist Carl Beech

* A report by an independent panel set up in 2013 into the unsolved murder of Daniel Morgan accused the force of institutional corruption, and found that the then-Assistant Commissioner Dame Cressida had initially refused to grant access to a police internal data system

* Before she became commissioner, she was in charge of the operation that led to the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×