Priti Patel ‘thinks Met is rotten from top to bottom’, says report

Priti Patel believes that the Met police is “rotten from top to bottom” and views it as being “absolutely the worst” of Britain’s police forces, according to a new report

The UK’s Home Secretary wants to bring the force under greater political control following the murder of Sarah Everard at the hands of a serving Met police officer, and is said to have been left frustrated when dealing with senior police officers, including Met commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.

The Times has said that Priti Patel lost patience with Dame Cressida, believing that she has been “very defensive” and “tin eared”, telling the Met’s chief to “cut the crap” at one stage of discussions.

This comes after Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick is facing mounting calls to resign, after Wayne Couzens – nicknamed ‘The Rapist’ by colleagues – was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of Sarah Everard.

An inquiry into how the Met had handled the Sarah Everard case, in which the Met’s own officer, Wayne Couzens, handcuffed her under false circumstances before then raping and killing her, has been announced, while the commissioner has launched another inquiry into the force’s culture.

The clash with Dame Cressida comes despite top Conservative MPs lining up publicly to back the commissioner in recent weeks. She has faced calls to stand down.

UK health secretary Sajid Javid, who is also a former Home Secretary, told LBC’s Andrew Castle that she was the “right person” to implement the necessary reforms and said that “we’ve just got to make sure” changes are being put in place.

Kit Malthouse, the UK’s Policing minister told LBC’s Nick Ferrari that she was the “the right person for the job” before then citing her commitment to improving the Metropolitan police force.

Dame Cressida Dick was given a two-year extension to her contract despite the opposition to her staying as London’s top policing official.

This comes after Scotland Yard will not be investigating sexual abuse allegations against the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, according to Met Police reports. The Met has reportedly spoken to the accuser Virginia Giuffre and are now said to have decided that they will not take any further action in regard to her claims.

Priti Patel’s view of the Met as “rotten from top to bottom” was the Times’ own characterisation of beliefs, with a senior Home Office source informing the newspaper about her views.

It said that she wants to use the recently established National Policing Board to hold forces to account.

The Met declined to comment.