Metropolitan Police: Casey Review
Debate between Matthew Offord and Suella Braverman(1 year, 9 months ago)
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Suella Braverman
The report is scathing in tracking and describing incidents of misogyny and the way in which confidence has been broken among women and girls, and it is therefore vital that we work with the Met police to restore that confidence. The Soteria programme, to which Baroness Casey expressly refers, must be rolled out and implemented meaningfully when it comes to the investigation and prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences. We are already seeing some improvement in police referrals of rape complaints to the Crown Prosecution Service, but it is clear that, although we are on the right track, more must be done.
Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
The immediate political acceptance of Baroness Casey’s report demonstrates that nothing has changed since the publication of the Macpherson report 24 years ago. Many think that the report in itself is a panacea to change. Does the Home Secretary not agree that it would be more effective to abolish the Metropolitan Police Service, transfer the specialist operations to the remit of the Home Office and establish a police service for London to focus solely on the maintenance of law and order?
Suella Braverman
I do not agree that we must abolish the Metropolitan Police Service. I think we need to institute a wide-ranging programme of profound reform, and that is why I think that Sir Mark is absolutely right in his turnaround plan, which deals specifically with the systemic problems—problems that, unfortunately, are not new but of which we are all aware—that need root-and-branch reform. That is why he is in the right position to effect that change.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Matthew Offord and Suella Braverman(1 year, 10 months ago)
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Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con)
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Suella Braverman)
The Government have committed substantial extra funding to invest in policing and to reduce crime, including the recruitment of an additional 20,000 police officers by March. We recently confirmed a total police funding settlement of a maximum of £17 billion for 2023-24. We have seen great results: a fall in overall crime since 2019 thanks to this Government, a fall in domestic burglary since 2019 thanks to this Government, and a fall in violent crime since 2019 thanks to this Government—more police, less crime and safer streets.
Dr Offord
Hendon Police College was once an exemplar of British policing, but there have been accusations of police staff officers being assaulted, inappropriate use of pain compliance techniques and multiple cases of cheating in exams, where the perpetrators subsequently lied about it—all by trainee police officers. How can there be trust in the police to protect the public when the recruitment process fails to identify the fundamentally dishonest?