It has been another tough day for the Met. An immigration official, a former Metropolitan Police officer, has been suspended by the Home Office following an investigation into allegations of racist posts in a WhatsApp group.
The group is understood to include other former Met officers, and the BBC reports that serving officers remained members of it until after the murder of Sarah Everard by PC Wayne Couzens last year.
Some posts are said to feature racist comments on the Government’s Rwanda deportation policy and the recent flooding in Pakistan, which left nearly 1,700 people dead.
These latest revelations serve only to underline the deep-seated problems the Met faces, laid bare in the independent report into Charing Cross Station, which uncovered a culture of misogyny, racism, homophobia and bullying. The force has since been effectively placed into special measures due to a variety of failings.
On taking over, the Met’s new Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, promised to be “ruthless in rooting out racist and misogynist officers” from the force. There is no alternative, and the scale of the challenge he faces is now clear.
The Met exists to serve London, one of the most diverse cities in the world. Sir Mark will not be able to finish the arduous but vital task of rebuilding trust with all communities unless and until every last bigot is forced out.
Nurses have their say
The Royal College of Nursing today ballots 300,000 members on industrial action for the first time in its history.
The union wants a rise of RPI inflation plus five per cent, but staff in England and Wales are being offered an average of 4.75 per cent. People on lower wages, including NHS nurses, are feeling the cost-of-living crisis, and reeling from a mini-budget that did most for higher earners.
There is also a specific London problem. The capital suffers from the highest leaving rate for nurses and midwives of any English region. Evening Standard analysis found that 7,239 nurses left the health service in the capital in the year to June 2022 — a steep rise.
Taking into account new starters, it means the NHS in London added just 547 nurses in the period, despite record waiting lists and what the Health and Social Care Select Committee calls the service’s “greatest workforce crisis”.
The Government must find a way to stem the bleeding. That starts with a reasonable pay settlement.
Barenboim’s battle
It is cruel when deteriorating health afflicts anyone, but when it falls on one of the greatest conductors of the age, it is a public tragedy.
Daniel Barenboim has announced that he has been diagnosed with a serious neurological disorder which means he will be reducing his work.
It is too early to bid farewell to a man who has had a dominant role in the classical music world for 60 years but it is not too soon to remind ourselves of his brilliance.
Besides his work as a conductor and pianist he created the unique multinational Divan orchestra with Palestinian and Israeli instrumentalists.
Barenboim galvanised the world of classical music — and we hope he will continue to do so.
