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By Liz S
Let’s focus on (Tory and) Labour’s record on policing elsewhere shall we (as English Mayors and/or UK Home Secretaries)?
The s*** that has continuously gone on with the London Met police in their poor record on cases that they have failed to investigate properly or dealt with, is , as far as policing is concerned , an embarrassing position to be in and also a clear example of how not to police within an area, a city or a country (like within England for example).
Since January 2012 the Mayor of London is responsible for the governance of the Metropolitan Police through the Mayor’s office for Policing and Crime. (Tory Boris Johnson was Mayor of London from 2012-2016 and then from 2016 Labour’s Sadiq Khan has been the Mayor of London).
Mayor of London governance in policing involves “setting the overall strategic direction, targets, and priorities for London’s policing, Managing resources, expenditure, and setting the annual policing budget from City Hall, holding the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to account for the delivery of efficient and effective policing and Investing in crime prevention programs and commissioning services to support victims of crime”.
The Home Secretary’s role is one that “retains the ultimate statutory power to hire and fire the Met Commissioner (though legally required to “have regard to” mayoral recommendations), provides the vast majority (roughly 75%) of the Metropolitan Police’s multi-billion-pound funding via central government grants, oversees national policing capabilities, counter-terrorism functions, and royal/VIP protection carried out by the Met that extend beyond London’s local borders and also sets national policing standards, oversees nationwide criminal justice bodies like the IOPC and holds the power to legislate structural reforms”.
Before 2000, the Metropolitan Police was under the authority of the Home Secretary.
Controversies pre 2000 and post 2012 onwards:
The 1993 Stephen Lawrence case was “heavily criticised and the subsequent Macpherson Inquiry (1999) found the Metropolitan Police to be “institutionally racist,” a landmark finding that mandated significant police reform efforts across the UK”.
In 2005 a Brazilian electrician living in London, Jean Charles de Menezes , was shot and killed by Metropolitan Police officers , the “Met Police mistakenly identified him as a suicide bomber linked to failed bombing attempts on the London transport network the day before, coming two weeks after the 7/7 London bombings” and “he was entirely blameless and unarmed, no individual police officers were prosecuted, though the Metropolitan Police Service was fined for breaching health and safety laws”.
The 2009 G20 London summit protests – “the Met faced widespread criticism over the actions of officers including the death of demonstrator Ian Tomlinson after being struck by an officer. This led to public criticism over excessive force and officers concealing their identification numbers”.
In 2011, it was disclosed that “a number of (Met) undercover officers had entered into intimate relationships with members of targeted groups, and even proposed marriage or fathered children with protesters who were unaware their partner was a police officer in a role as part of their official duties”.
In 2020, “two Met officers assigned to guard the scene of the murders of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were jailed for taking and sharing photographs of the deceased women on WhatsApp referring to them as “dead birds”.
In 2021 “a review into the handling of the investigation of the murder of Daniel Morgan found that the Met Police was “institutionally corrupt”.
In 2023, “a report found racism, misogyny, homophobia and corruption within the organisation after the abduction of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, a police constable. 12% of female Met employees had been harassed or attacked, with 33% experiencing sexism. Other incidents included a Muslim officer who had bacon stuffed into his boots and a Sikh officer whose beard was cut”.
In April 2024, “the Met settled a claim for misfeasance in public office and false imprisonment by agreeing to pay a five-figure sum as damages to a French publisher who had been arrested and detained under anti-terrorism laws while he was on his way to a book fair in London”.
In November 2024, “it was alleged that the Metropolitan Police was told about allegations of sexual assault against Mohamed Al-Fayed the late businessman and owner of Harrods, ten years earlier than it had acknowledged” (The Met “claimed that it first received such allegations in 2005, but the BBC was told that it had been informed by victims in 1995, but had not acted on the information”).
Not sure if the above is an exhaustive list of failings linked to the Met police, but I strongly suspect that it is not.
“The Metropolitan Police’s systemic and investigative failings have been the focus of several critically acclaimed UK television dramas. These series use real-life cases to highlight institutional errors, bias, and misconduct” .
(Some of these TV dramas highlighting failures in Met investigations included the Stephen Port murders in a TV drama called “Four Lives”, also “Stephen” – the murder of Stephen Lawrence, “Deceit” based on the 1992 undercover honeytrap operation after Rachel Nickell’s murder and then also “Believe Me” on the failings of the Met police investigation into black cab rapist John Worboys which saw “the Metropolitan Police lose an appeal against two rape victims, who won compensation over the Met’s (mis)handling of the case of black cab rapist John Worboys”).
The rule seems to be that with any major failings within England in any public service areas , be it policing, education, the NHS or anything else then the UK media and pro UK politicians must then (over) promote any (rare and odd) case that happens within Scotland.
This is not cases within Scotland of the same magnitude, as in not the same excessive amount of shocking cases that there has been involving the Met police force in England.
So a spiralling amount of investigation failings linked to the London Met police is often then (wrongly) presented, by the UK media and pro UK politicians, as being a similar situation happening within Scotland .
That is any identified case that happens in Scotland, be it Police or any other public service, then it is promoted as being a situation where Scotland is then to be seen as being no different to nor any better than England .
BTW there are also documented failings in the police elsewhere in other English regions too, like for example:
“Greater Manchester Police faced severe scrutiny for a systemic failure to record reported crimes, which significantly obstructed initial investigations. A major review exposed that the force failed to record one on five reported crimes (amounting to roughly 80,000 unrecorded crimes a year), including significant failures in documenting allegations of rape and domestic abuse , HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said about 220 crimes a day went unrecorded in the year up to June 2020” .
Andy Burnham was Mayor of Manchester from 2017 to 2026.
So really the media, especially BBC Scotland, always try to make a meal out of any random case/situation within Scotland that they then hope will cast aspersions upon the SNP as the Scottish government.
A too obvious ploy which the BBC then also hopes will make people in Scotland doubt the SNP’s ability to run an independent Scotland.
While simultaneously the BBC conveniently (deliberately) forgets the catalogue of failures connected to other places within their British State , as in places governed by pro UK parties, that is goverened at different levels e.g English Mayors and as UK (English) Home Secretaries).
Scotland – the nation where all of the pro UK media and all of the pro UK politicians always politicise absolutely anything and everything.
Liz S
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Scotland's First and biggest Rebuttal Service -Talking-up Scotland 
Although the Metropolitan Police are, on paper, under the control of the Mayor of London, the Mayor can be overridden by the Home Secretary. In addition the relationship between the Met and MI5 would be worth digging into if people can get round things like the Official Secrets Act.
In fact, I do not think the Met, despite the creation of an image in the media from the days of Dixon of Dock Green through various series of other police procedurals of the ‘honest copper’ who knows and is loved by the residents and shop owners in his ‘patch’ or ‘manor’ has ever really served the people of London. It has been there to control and sometimes intimidate the people of London.
I think a distinction has to be drawn between Sadiq Khan and Ken Livingstone as Mayors and Boris Johnson as Mayor. The latter was an upper class, calculating corrupt, unshamable villain, whereas the other two (despite Khan accepting a knighthood) are and were firmly on the side of Londoners. Indeed, because Livingstone as Leader of the GLC, was strongly on the side of empowering Londoners, Mrs Thatcher abolished the GLC and for more than a decade, London as a unified municipal entity did not exist.
When the Mayoralty was reestablished and Livingstone was elected he continued his pro-Londoner stance and faced an unrelievedly hostile metropolitan media and a Met who very reluctantly took orders from the Mayor.
Then there was the clownish Johnson, the media darling, ‘he’s a rogue, but ain’t he a card?’. He clearly misused the office, but was not investigated by the Met.
Khan was elected, despite a hostile and overtly racist campaign and subsequently reelected twice facing increasing racism and mutinous actions by Metropolitan Police Commissioners. He dismissed the appalling Cressida Dick.
Despite the ULEZ having been started by Johnson, after he was forced to resign as PM and stepped down as an MP, his party and the media made the ULEZ the only topic in the bye election, heaping blame on Khan (including from the execrable taker of bungs, Starmer). Although the Tories won the bye election, Khan stuck to his policy. There was physical destruction of ULEZ monitoring equipment urged by the media and cheered by them. The Met did little to stop it.
Several health studies showing the significantly positive effect that the ULEZ has had on the well being of Londoners, particularly children are testimony to Khan’s political determination.
So, I think your bracketing of Khan with Johnson in your justified criticism of the Met is misplaced.
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“So, I think your bracketing of Khan with Johnson in your justified criticism of the Met is misplaced”
“bracketing of Khan with Johnson” in the sense of noting that one, Johnson, was formerly a Mayor of London and one, Khan, still is the Mayor of London.
“He dismissed the appalling Cressida Dick” .
It was noted that “the career of Cressida Dick has seen her weather a number of storms that would have sunk many others. Allegations relating to an unholy trinity of dishonesty, prejudice and incompetence dogged the Met for almost all of her tenure“.
So then it was also noted that eventually “she quit in February 2022 when the Mayor of London, Khan, said he had lost confidence in her leadership”.
Cressida Dick was in her job from 2017 to 2022 and many of the examples I noted above in my post were during her tenure as Met Commissioner , yet throughout all of the fiascos she still remained in her position.
Yes I agree that Khan has done many positive things for London but then I do not live in London and so these things do not benefit me.
However I cannot give either praise nor give support to a Labour politician like Sadiq Khan who once “compared Scottish nationalism with Donald Trump and the Brexit campaign”
That is when he once spoke at a Scottish Labour conference and he said there was “no difference” between Scottish nationalism and “those who try to divide us on the basis of our background, race or religion”.
***Khan said: “London and Scotland have always had a very special relationship.” ***
“We are twin beacons of progressive values and hope within the United Kingdom. We both celebrate our diversity and take pride in our tolerance. We strive for equality and to increase opportunities.”
“But despite our shared values, there are some in Scotland who are determined to define London as Scotland’s enemy – to turn us against each other,” he added.
“They try to paint my city as the home of ‘the elite’ – as a hotbed of conservatism. Well I’m in Perth today to send a clear message to all Scots that nothing could be further from the truth.”
(Note that he above ***compares a City, London, to a Country, Scotland)
There was a backlash against what he had said , which he then tried to defend by stating “”What I am saying is that the world is increasingly divided by Brexit result and the election of President Trump, with the rise of populist and narrow nationalist parties across the world, now is the time to come together, now is the time for unity, not a time for division or isolation.”
Not really an apology though was it ?
Blame , as you state above, may have been “heaped on Khan” by the media and others , just as we also saw blame “heaped upon” Jeremy Corbyn and now also being “heaped upon” Zach Polanski by the exact same sources, but then as we all know “blame” is also always “heaped upon” the SNP as a party and as the Scottish government by the media, by some others and also by the Labour party , including it seems also by the London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Khan’s biggest critics who “blame” him are those who critique him mainly because he is a Muslim and so they, as his critics, all do their best to “try to divide us on the basis of background, race or religion”(and via our politics too , as well as constitutionally matters also).
I do agree that he, Khan, was indeed “distinct” from Johnson in that Khan, unlike Johnson, was and still is on the side of Londoners. (though Khan did lose Brownie points with him accepting a Peerage).
I hope my response to you does not seem too blunt or contentious (if so I apologise) as that is the last thing I intended, as I do both enjoy and also respect your measured, articulate and informative comments that you add onto posts on TUS.
I , on the other hand , can appear to be a tad too negative , somewhat unfiltered and so then may seem to be a tad too aggressive in my comments on here, that is in respect to my opinions and observations upon both UK and Scottish politics.
🙂
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No offence taken.
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It was that Liz, Al
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“It was that Liz , Al”.
Ha Ha, you bad man you ratted me out !
No worries though , as I took all of the blame and responded to Mr Mcdonald.
🙂
Liz S
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*No worries though , as I took all of the blame and responded to Mr Mcdonald
Sorry , Macdonald
Liz S
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Burnham’s so-called ‘listening tour’ of the UK completely avoided Scotland.
Are we now independent from the UK ?
Wishful thinking.
Or are we, in Scotland, just not worth listening to ?
Meanwhile the BBC website in their so-called ‘Scottish’ pages seem to be also avoiding highlighting this extremely significant fact ( as in snub).
Indeed MSM Monitor posted this post below , 29 August , in response to another BBC headline today on their UK politics page that stated “Burnham’s summer tour is over – now he has to prove himself in Parliament” :
“Hold on, this was supposed to be a UK wide tour. BBC Scotland confirmed it in news bulletins on 9th August. He was meant to be coming to Scotland and face media scrutiny”.
Currently on the BBC website, in the so called ‘Scottish politics’ page , they only have this 26 August article in regards to Burnham and the FM’s of devolved governments:
“Burnham calls summit of Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish first ministers”.
“Andy Burnham says he will bring together the leaders of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland this autumn for a summit to help boost the UK economy”.
Sorry , “to help boost the UK economy” ?
Well what about Scotland’s economy being boosted or even restored to what it once was prior to the Tory party and Labour party’s UK Brexit ?
The BBC article continues in stating that:
“He suggested Wales and Scotland should consider ways to deepen devolution by following England’s model where more powers are given to cities and regions under mayors”
So Burnham visited England, Wales & NI in his, checks notes, UK cost of living listening tour , but he decided (as per all UK PM’s have done in the past) to not want to listen to what Scots have to say in Scotland.
Instead , as per, Burnham will , like all of the previous UK PM’s, just continue to dictate what we in Scotland are ‘allowed‘ and are not ‘allowed’ within his UK , dictate what he thinks we really need in Scotland and so then also dictate what he has decided we really want here in Scotland.
So then why is Burnham having a summit with all FM’s when he has already visited the countries of two them, NI & Wales. (plus how many different places in England did he visit on his so called UK listening tour ?
BTW some may say he did come to Scotland but that was mainly for the Commonwealth games in Glasgow – it was reported that he arrived in Glasgow on Thursday afternoon, July 23, 2026, and left for Manchester on Friday morning, July 24, 2026, roughly 12 hours after the opening ceremony ended – he also managed , during that fleeting visit , to meet briefly with John Swinney – but not with Glaswegians on his so called UK listening tour.
UK listening tour was reported as being “officially launched in it’s structured national focus on the cost of living on August 10–11, 2026 and now seems to be ended as of today 20 August.
Better together , for whom ?
Liz S
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