Mr Khan said he has demanded answers over how Dame Cressida will reform the culture in the Met and restore public confidence. (Victoria Jones/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Cressida Dick’s future as Britain’s top police officer now appears perilous after the public ultimatum delivered by the London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and it would be a brave person who bets on her survival.
That’s because although the Mayor said that he believes “in due process” and in giving Dame Cressida the chance to prove she can answer his “two big questions” about how she addresses the failings in her force, he’s made it clear that his patience is almost at an end.
That’s understandable after the series of disasters that have beset the Met which include not just the notorious murder of Sarah Everard by the then serving officer Wayne Couzens and the scandalous conduct exposed at Charing Cross police station, but a litany of other examples too.
The next meeting between the pair – which Mr Khan says will be in days or weeks – is the first hurdle that Dame Cresssida must overcome and it’s far from certain that she will.
One reason is that whatever plans she produces to answer the Mayor’s questions on rooting out rogue officers and restoring public trust, Mr Khan has, in political terms, already walked quite a long way down the road to her dismissal and won’t find it easy to justify turning back.
On top of this, even if she survives her first meeting with the Mayor, Dame Cressida still faces more deeply uncertain months ahead because many new headaches lie ahead with each having the potential further damage on the Met’s reputation and that of its leader.
They include the inevitably high profile prosecution of the Met officer David Carrick, who is accused of multiple counts of rape and other offences, as well as the Home Office commissioned inquiry into Sarah Everard’s murder and the Met’s culture and the probe into the force that is being conducted by Dame Louise Casey after being ordered by Dame Cressida herself.
Nor is the support of Home Secretary Priti Patel guaranteed. She had already made clear her concern about the state of the Met and was uncompromising last week in an appearance before the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, telling MPs how appalled she was by the racist and misogynistic misconduct at Charing Cross police station. Ms Patel added ominously that the responsibility lay partly with failures of leadership, including at the top of Scotland Yard.
Loss of Ms Patel’s support would of course be terminal, given that it’s the Home Secretary who ultimately hires and fires the Commissioner.
But the truth too is that Dame Cressida’s position will be untenable if the London Mayor concludes that he, as the representative of Londoners, no longer has confidence in her.
A head of Scotland Yard who is unwanted by the Mayor has no chance of survival and would probably feel compelled to resign before any formal dismissal process was completed.
It’s an unfortunate position to arrive at because few will doubt Dame Cressida’s dismay at each of the abysmal failures that she’s had to confront, her deep commitment to Londoners and public service, or her own desire to ensure the highest standards in policing.
It looks increasingly likely though that these undoubted qualities won’t be enough and that London instead could soon be looking for a new Commissioner.
