Metropolitan Police Service — House of Lords, 2022-06-29
Topic: Law and Crime
Vernon Coaker (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, it is dreadful to have to start another Statement response in this House recognising a victim of male violence against women and girls. All our thoughts are with the family, friends and loved ones of Zara Aleena. It shows again how desperately needed is the action the Government are proposing to tackle violence against women and girls and to identify, stop and prosecute perpetrators It is usual to thank the Minister for repeating a Statement to the House. I am of course grateful to her, but I have to raise a concern. The copy of the Statement shared with us at 1.33 pm today, and with Front-Bench colleagues in the other place, was not the same as the Statement delivered by the Minister for Crime and Policing. The Statement delivered, as we have just heard from the Minister, included a number of political gibes, spaced throughout from the very beginning, which had not been included in the shared copy of the text. As the Minister knows, I have the highest regard for her and know that she would not be so discourteous to us, but it cannot be right to share with us a Statement as important as this which excludes some of the things she has had to repeat to noble Lords. It is just not the right way to do things It is really disappointing that, on a subject as serious and frankly disturbing as this, the Home Secretary, presumably, and a Home Office Minister—not the noble Baroness—thought it acceptable to provide noble Lords and Parliament with an incomplete copy of the Statement and then, between the time we received it and the time it was delivered, to spend time thinking of a few political digs to add in rather than focusing on what we all must do. We all have our parts to play in acknowledging and repairing the problems that exist I am the son of a Metropolitan Police officer of 30 years, so it is really depressing to read the HMICFRS report on the Metropolitan Police and its being placed into special measures. It is also depressing for the tens of thousands of London officers and officers around the country who do their duty and serve with bravery and distinction, including many police officers around this Parliament who protect us. They, alongside victims and the public, are being failed Last year we had the report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, following Daniel’s murder and the police corruption which prevented justice being served. It found: "In failing to acknowledge its many failings over the 34 years since the murder of Daniel Morgan, the Metropolitan Police’s first objective was to protect itself." Think about that for a moment, alongside the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer who used his badge of office to deceive her; the behaviour of officers in the case of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman; the failings of officers in the Stephen Port case; the strip-search of Child Q and other children —how many others have now been reported to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, as we read in the papers that perhaps a further eight have been reported to the Police Ombudsman?—the stop and search of Bianca Williams, with her and her partner being handcuffed and separated from their son as part of their ordeal; and Met officers at Charing Cross station using a WhatsApp group to share racist jokes and joke about raping and beating women The list goes on. But it cannot go on; it has to stop. It fails the vast majority of decent police officers as well as the confidence and trust of the public. As Members of both Houses, members of the public and victims’ families have been saying for years, all these are symptomatic of deep and disturbing problems in the culture of the Metropolitan Police. When will it change? We also learn from this recent inspection, as the Minister told us, that 999 call response times have not been met, that 69,000 crimes were not even logged and that there is a failure even to tackle anti-social behaviour. Is it any wonder that public trust and confidence are undermined in what should be and is one of our great institutions We are in a situation where some people in some communities in London are losing, or have lost, faith in their local police services to protect them. How will the fact that the Met Police has been placed in special measures work to restore their confidence? How will the public be reassured? What is the plan that will be produced? How will it be monitored and reported to us, so we know progress is being made With the scale of the cultural change needed, I say regretfully that the Statement the Minister was asked to repeat needs a greater sense of urgency and a greater sense of when changes will happen. The key concrete measures included in the Statement are already announced inquiries, which are welcome but will take time. When will they report? Why will they make a difference when others have not The Statement says reports of strip-searches being used on children are, "deeply concerning and need to be addressed comprehensively" but what action is being taken to do so? Why has there been a failure so far to bring forward new guidance on strip-searches, which for months we have been calling for? Can the Minister give an update on work to introduce a police duty of candour, which Members of this House voted for as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act Too many victims have been, and are being, let down across the country. There has been a significant increase in the number of cases collapsing because a victim drops out. Why is the victims Bill, which has been promised for years, still only in draft form, and not yet on the statute book Can the Minister tell us more about the changes that will be made to training and support for officers? Does she recognise that there is a problem in the ratio of supervising officers to police constables in the Metropolitan Police? There is an issue there with inexperienced officers not having the support and supervision they need, and although the Government are now increasing officer numbers, that does not solve the problem of the loss of thousands of officers with years of experience. How will that be addressed? Policing in this country depends on public trust; it is policing by consent. That trust has been eroded and will continue to be withdrawn by those who have experienced and witnessed some of the shocking examples of police behaviour that we have discussed today. The Home Secretary has to answer these concerns, speak to victims and drive up standards in policing across the country. This report is yet another wake-up call, and this time it needs to be heard.