Khan slammed for ‘abuse of power’ in forcing Cressida out
LONDON’S Labour mayor sadiq Khan committed an ‘ abuse of power’ by forcing dame Cressida dick out of scotland Yard, a report found yesterday.
It also says he was guilty of ‘oppressive and unreasonable treatment’ of the Metropolitan Police commissioner and made a veiled threat against her.
The 115-page report looked at whether Mr Khan followed laws governing how a commissioner can be required to resign or retire.
Its author, the former police watchdog sir Tom Winsor, concluded: ‘The failure of the mayor to comply with that legislative scheme was, in my view, an abuse of the power conferred upon him.’
He said dame Cressida’s treatment was a ‘ classic instance of a constructive dismissal’. A furious Mr Khan hit back, saying that sir Tom was ‘clearly biased’.
During her five years as the country’s top police officer, dame Cressida presided over a series of scandals including the murder of sarah Everard by a serving Met officer.
But the flashpoint between her and Mr Khan followed an investigation into allegations of racist and sexist behaviour of a group of Met officers, most of whom were based at Charing Cross police station.
Yesterday’s report revealed that at a meeting on February 2, Mr Khan said the commissioner should ‘dismiss all the officers investigated’ during that operation.
Dame Cressida said she told the mayor that police rules did not give her the powers to do so. sir Tom’s report went on: ‘she said it was important to comply with the law and to be fair. The mayor replied, she told me, “do it anyway”.
‘She added that if she complied with the mayor’s purported direction to her, she would be successfully legally challenged, and that she must uphold the law.
‘The mayor replied, in the account of the commissioner provided to me, that, “You’re wrong. Your job is to uphold the criminal law.
‘Don’t worry about the civil law... The public will support it”.’ The report added: ‘At the end of the meeting as a whole, the mayor said to the commissioner words to the effect that “one or other of us is going to end up being substituted”.’
Mr Khan disputed this version of events, but sir Tom concluded: ‘ The mayor’s choice of language was intended as a veiled threat that if actions were not taken by the commissioner in accordance with his concerns, he would act to “substitute” her. In my view, the mayor’s comments were wholly improper.’
Eight days later, the mayor handed dame Cressida an ‘ultimatum’: if she did not attend a meeting and convince Mr Khan that she had bolstered her moves to address the Met’s failings, he would tell the media he no longer had confidence in her.
Dame Cressida was given an hour to decide her next move. she then announced her decision to step down.
The actions of the mayor and his officials were ‘unjustifiably politically brutal’ and were ‘oppressive and unreasonable’, the report said.
‘She felt intimidated by this process into stepping aside, and I can understand that reaction.
‘For any public servant – least of all one so senior and long- serving – to be given under an hour to decide whether to resign or to challenge the mayor’s position was entirely unacceptable.’
‘Politically brutal’
‘Concentrate on safer streets’
sir Tom also said that the mayor’s co-operation with his inquiry fell ‘a long way short’ of expectations.
Yesterday Mr Khan said: ‘on the former commissioner’s watch, trust in the police fell to record lows following a litany of terrible scandals.
‘What happened was simple – I lost confidence in the former commissioner’s ability to make the changes needed and she then chose to stand aside. Londoners elected me to hold the Met commissioner to account and that’s exactly what I have done.’
The Home secretary Priti Patel, who commissioned the report, said: ‘I hope now that those responsible for delivering policing in London – as well as those responsible for holding the Met to account – will concentrate their efforts on delivering safer streets for the capital and restoring integrity in policing.’