Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick (Ian West/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Priti Patel was on Thursday preparing to rebuff calls to halt the reappointment of Cressida Dick by pressing ahead with a new deal to keep her at Scotland Yard for an extra two years.
The Evening Standard revealed on Wednesday that the Home Secretary and London Mayor Sadiq Khan have decided to offer Dame Cressida a two-year extension to her current five-year deal that will allow her to remain Met Commissioner until 2024.
The critics, who include Baroness Lawrence, the mother of the murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence, and Lady Brittan, wife of the former Tory Home Secretary Leon Brittan, claim in an open letter to Boris Johnson that Dame Cressida has presided over “a culture of incompetence and cover-up” and should be investigated over her conduct.
They are also demanding a shake-up of the Met’s senior team and the replacement of the Independent Office for Police Conduct with a more effective and independent system of oversight to hold Scotland Yard to account for any failings. Sources today made clear, however, that the Home Secretary is unwilling to bow to the demands and intends to press ahead with Dame Cressida’s extension.
A formal announcement could come as early as Friday.
A source said the reason was that Ms Patel, whose decision is supported by Mr Khan, continued to regard Ms Dick as the best person to do to the job and that there was no more impressive alternative.
Baroness Lawrence said: “There’s been too many mistakes that she has made in her tenure as commissioner. She’s the first woman commissioner and that’s good for diversity but if you’re not doing your job properly then that should make no difference.”
