Tory ‘not in by-election town often’
Anger as inspectors back force
CONFESSION Jill Mortimer
A TORY by-election hopeful admits she has not often been to the constituency.
Jill Mortimer, a district councillor in Hambleton, North Yorks, was selected by her party to contest Hartlepool in Co Durham.
Asked if the town was a place she spends a lot of time, she confessed: “It hasn’t been up till now but it will be.” She said the two areas are “cheek-by-jowl”.
Labour said: “Our candidate, Dr Paul Williams, is a local, at the town’s heart, and working to defeat Covid in Hartlepool Hospital. This Tory is out of town and out of touch.”
Party leader Keir Starmer yesterday visited the seat, which Labour held at the last election with a much reduced majority. The poll, a test of Labour’s fight to win back “Red Wall” voters, is on May 6.
SCOTLAND Yard policed the Sarah Everard vigil earlier this month in a “measured and proportionate way”, inspectors have concluded.
The Metropolitan Police came under fire after male officers pinned down women at the event in London.
The scenes prompted widespread condemnation, with Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey leading calls for Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick to resign.
But Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, headed by Sir Thomas Winsor, found officers did their best to peacefully disperse the crowd, remaining professional in “difficult circumstances”.
Its report also said the reaction soon after the chaos was “unwarranted”.
Matt Parr, who led the probe, said police “faced a complex and sensitive challenge” at Clapham Common in
South London, during lockdown on March 13.
He said: “After reviewing a huge body of evidence – rather than a snapshot on social media – we found things the Met could have done better. But we saw nothing to suggest police officers acted in anything but a measured and proportionate way in challenging circumstances.”
He said later condemnation “undermined public confidence in policing based on very limited evidence”.
Sarah, 33, was last seen walking near the common on March 3. Her body was found a week later near Ashford, Kent, prompting a debate over women’s
Masked Met Police in group at the common safety. Reclaim These Streets then organised the vigil but cancelled it after accusing Met Police bosses of refusing to engage constructively. But about 1,500 people attended, with nine arrests. Reclaim These Streets said the inspectors’ report was “disappointing” and showed “institutional sexism”.
It said: “We anticipated a fair and balanced inquiry, and are instead being told not to believe what we saw and heard reported two weeks ago.” The group’s Jamie Klingler, 42, who gave testimony, said: “I felt heard – so to be told that our experience isn’t valid to the Met is quite upsetting. What we
Thomas Winsor
Sir
Sarah, who died this month
JAMIE KLINGER OF RECLAIM THESE STREETS
We saw violence against women at the hands of men
were doing was about violence against women at the hands of men, and what did we see? Violence against women at the hands of men.”
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said: “The officers went to great lengths to ensure that tactics were appropriate.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer called for officials to address the issue of women’s safety which sparked the event.
John Apter, of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “Police officers were unfairly vilified and the comments about their actions were disproportionate and damaging.”
PC Wayne Couzens, 48, is in custody charged with Sarah’s murder and kidnap, and faces trial on October 25.
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Officers lined up in front of people holding lights aloft