The Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents over 31,000 officers in London, has declared that it has “no faith” in the leadership of leftist London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Following the dramatic resignation of Met Commissioner Cressida Dick in response to a lack of “sufficient confidence” in her from Sadiq Khan, the Metropolitan Police Federation has said that the Labour London Mayor has “undermined” the police force as a whole through his public comments condemning the “toxic culture” of “racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying, discrimination and misogyny” allegedly displayed by some officers.
Declaring that the Federation no longer has “faith” in Khan, chairman Ken Marsh said: “This is not a move we take lightly. We have let the Mayor’s office know in no uncertain terms how our brave and diligent colleagues deserve better.
“The atmosphere amongst Metropolitan Police officers is horrendous – it’s rock bottom. Officers in London feel saddened and angry that Commissioner Cressida Dick has been pushed out in the way she has. She was reforming. She was changing. The culture is changing. We are deeply disappointed with the actions of the Mayor.
“The hard work of our colleagues – and public trust in our colleagues – is being undermined by politicians. And by the Mayor of London in particular. The continuing scaremongering, sniping and sweeping statements are causing disaffection with the public… not the thousands and thousands of hard-working officers who are out there keeping people safe.”
The Metropolitan Police Federation chairman went on to say: “These officers are being unfairly lambasted for things they haven’t done. Every minute of every day – as we speak – thousands of Metropolitan Police colleagues are out there putting their safety at risk, tackling knife crime and robbery, countering terrorism, capturing child sex offenders, locking up bad people.
“The Federation will continue to speak up for these courageous colleagues. They are being forgotten about by our elected Mayor. Enough is enough. Officers have no faith in Sadiq Khan.”
Though Commissioner Dick suffered serious blows to her legitimacy following the conviction of one of her officers for the rape and murder of Sarah Everard last year, followed by a heavy-handed shut down of a peaceful vigil held for the slain woman, Khan did not oust her then. It was only after leaked WhatsApp and Facebook chats from officers making crude and derogatory remarks that the mayor finally moved against Dick.
Commenting on the move, Brexit leader Nigel Farage also noted that Khan “wasn’t critical because knife crime is out of control, he wasn’t critical because rape and sexual assault is out of control and convictions are miserably low, he wasn’t unhappy with her because of the rise of gang violence.”
Last year, Mr Khan was re-elected for a second term as London Mayor, yet recently his leadership has faced growing criticism, with a plurality of Londoners (48 per cent) disapproving of the job he is doing, according to a YouGov poll conducted in January.
In terms of handling crime, the polls were even less favourable to Khan, with 60 per cent believing he was handling crime “badly”.
During his tenure as Mayor, through which he also serves as London’s Police and Crime Commissioner, the British capital has seen over one hundred killings each year. Last year, London saw a record number of teenagers being killed on its streets, with 30 youngsters losing their lives. It has been estimated — as full crime stats for the year have yet to be published — that 127 homicides were seen in 2021.
While real crimes, such as the knife crime epidemic, have plagued the city under his leadership, Mr Khan has instead focussed on woke censorious projects, such as policing Twitter through his Online Hate Crime Hub or determining which statues are deemed worthy of remaining based on the opinion of a Maoist-style council filled with far-left activists.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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