The Minister for Policing Kit Malthouse has accused Sadiq Khan of “falling asleep at the wheel”, adding that he’s “let the city down”.
His comments come after the Metropolitan Police were place under special measures following a series of failures.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said the Metropolitan Police Service is being closely scrutinised having faced extensive criticism following the death of Sarah Everard, who was abducted and murdered by serving Met police officer Wayne Couzens, and the Charing Cross police station scandal.
According to the policing watchdog’s website, a force enters the process if it is “not responding to a cause of concern, or if it is not succeeding in managing, mitigating or eradicating the cause of concern”.
Kit Malthouse
GB News
It adds: “In the Engage phase, forces will develop an improvement plan to address the specific cause(s) of concern that has caused them to be placed in the advanced phase of the monitoring process. The force may receive support from external organisations such as the College of Policing or the National Police Chiefs’ Council, brokered by HMICFRS.”
During a statement on the Metropolitan Police in the House of Commons, Mr Malthouse sent a clear message to Mr Khan.
He said: “The public elected a mayor to bring governance and accountability in their name.
“And I now expect the Mayor of London as the Police and Crime Commissioner to act swiftly to ensure that he and the force deliver improvements, win back public trust and make London streets safer.
Sadiq Khan has "been asleep at the wheel", Mr Malthouse said
Dominic Lipinski
“We expect him to provide an urgent update explaining how he plans to fix this as soon as possible.
“Now is not the time for the mayor to distance himself from the Met.
“He must lean in and share responsibility for a failure of governance and the work needed to put it right."
He added: “The mayor has been asleep at the wheel and has let the city down.
“Teenage homicides in London were the highest they’ve ever been in the last year and 23 percent of all knife crime takes place in London despite It having only 15 percent of the UK population.
“The mayor must acknowledge that he has profound questions to answer, he cannot be passive and continue as he has, he must get a grip.
“We have not heard enough from the mayor about what he plans to do about it, blaming everybody else will just not do this time.”