Boris Johnson has given his backing to Metropolitan Police chief Dame Cressida Dick despite the “very distressing” scenes at a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard.
The Prime Minister backed the Met chief ahead of chairing a meeting of the Government’s Crime and Justice Taskforce on Monday to discuss ways to protect women and girls from violence, with Dame Cressida among the attendees.
Amid a storm of criticism over the Met’s handling of a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard in London Labour and SNP MPs are rallying to vote against the government’s Policing and Crime Bill and to confront Home Secretary Priti Patel in the Commons.
Speaking ahead of his meeting with the police chief Johnson said he still had confidence in Dame Cressida.
He told reporters in Coventry: “The police do have a very, very difficult job. But there’s no question that the scenes that we saw were very distressing and so it is right that Tom Winsor, the inspector of constabulary, should do a full report into it.
Calls for Dame Cressida to resign were led by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey while Women’s Equality Party co-founder Catherine Mayer said her position was “untenable”.
The SNP has urged all Scottish MPs to vote down the UK government’s “flawed” Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill when it comes to a vote in Parliament on Tuesday.
Amnesty also called on MPs across to heed the warnings over the disproportionate measures in the Bill, and after the worrying scenes from the vigil for Sarah Everard at the weekend.
The human rights organisation said that proposals are “being rushed through” and would grant authorities powers to “effectively ban even peaceful protests.”
Ahead of the first day of a two-day debate on the Bill, SNP’s Shadow Justice Secretary Anne McLaughlin MP said: “It is now absolutely vital that the UK government listens to the mounting concerns and experiences of women, and properly acts to tackle violence and harassment against women.
“We need steps to protect women, not measures that impose disproportionate restrictions on our freedom of expression and right to protest
“SNP MPs will be voting against the damaging Bill, and I urge all Scottish MPs to heed the calls and to also do the same.”
There has been a huge outpouring of angers since officers clashed with crowds gathered on Clapham Common in south London there to remember the 33-year-old who went missing while walking home from a friend’s flat on March 3.
Serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, has been charged with kidnapping and killing the marketing executive.
