THE TORY government have offered the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick, a two-year extension to her term in office with campaigners for justice furious at the decision.
The decision was made by Tory Home Secretary, Priti Patel, in consultation with the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Downing Street.
A group of seven high-profile victims, led by the mother of Stephen Lawrence, oppose the extension of her role and say she should be investigated for her conduct.
The letter reads as a vote of no confidence in the Met commissioner: ‘Dame Cressida Dick, who has presided over a culture of incompetence and cover-up, must not have her contract extended and must be properly investigated for her conduct, along with her predecessors and those in her inner circle, who she appointed and who have questions to answer.
‘She should be replaced by an appointee from outside London, via a truly independent and transparent process.’
Dick has been forced to respond to a number of controversies surrounding the conduct of the force in the last six months with repeated calls for her to quit.
In March, she faced calls for her resignation over the much-criticised approach to the policing of the Sarah Everard vigil in south London. The police stormed the bandstand and arrested peaceful protesters.
Three months later, she was again under pressure to quit after an independent panel described the Met as institutionally corrupt.
In 1999 the MacPherson Report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence in a racist knife attack concluded that the Metropolitan police was ‘institutionally racist’.
Other signatories of the letter included Lady Brittan, widow of a minister falsely accused of sexual abuse, and Alastair Morgan, brother of Daniel. Daniel John Morgan (3 November 1949-10 March 1987) was a British private investigator who was murdered with an axe in a pub car park in Sydenham, London.
The report into the murder of 37-year-old private detective Daniel Morgan was finally published earlier this year. The 1,200 page report produced evidence that Scotland Yard had repeatedly covered up widespread corruption in its ranks and Met Commissioner Cressida Dick was personally criticised in the report for delaying the panel’s work by not handing over information and not allowing access to the Met’s database in a timely manner.
Four other people affected by false abuse claims – radio presenter Paul Gambaccini, former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, Edward Heath’s biographer Michael McManus, the son of Lord Bramall – also signed the letter.
As Assistant Police Commissioner she led the operation that pumped seven bullets into an entirely innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes on July 22, 2005 at Stockwell Tube station.
For the role she has played in assisting the capitalist state she has been awarded ‘The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.’
Dave Wiltshire Secretary of the All Trades Unions Alliance commented: ‘Despite controversy after controversy, rather than Cressida Dick being sacked, she has been decorated by the state and now offered a two-year extension to her role as head of the Metropolitan Police.
‘The state fear the class struggle emerging in the UK, where mass unemployment, homelessness, job cuts, pay cuts and benefit cuts have created a perfect storm of anger.
‘They know that when the working class rise up in a general strike, they will need to use the full force of the state, including the Metropolitan Police in order to attempt to put down an uprising – and as far as the state is concerned Dick is the woman for the job. She has the blood of innocent people on her hands, and stands accused of obstructing any attempt to uncover police corruption.
‘She should be thrown out and and the entire institutionally racist and corrupt police disbanded.’