Dame Cressida Dick “felt intimidated” into resigning as Metropolitan Police Commissioner following an ultimatum from London mayor Sadiq Khan, an independent report has found.
The review, by Sir Thomas Winsor, into Dame Cressida’s departure from the force in February also found due process was not followed.
Sir Thomas was commissioned to write the report after Dame Cressida resigned following the Met’s placement in special measures and allegations of corruption over its investigation into lockdown parties in Westminster.
He presented the findings to the Home Office on 24 August, but they were published on Friday “given the public interest in the matter”.
The report reads: “In this case, none of the statutory steps set out in section 48 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 were followed.
“The mayor, through his chief of staff, gave the commissioner an ultimatum on 10 February 2022: if the commissioner did not attend a meeting and convince the mayor that her plan of 4 February 2022 would be improved, he would make a statement to the media.
“That statement would make clear that he no longer had trust and confidence in the commissioner, and that he intended to start the statutory process for her removal.
“When the commissioner did not attend that meeting, the mayor’s chief of staff reiterated the mayor’s position and gave her less than one hour to decide what to do.
“She felt intimidated by this process into stepping aside, and I can understand that reaction.
“The commissioner felt that, in the interests of Londoners and the Metropolitan Police, she had to ‘step aside’, as a prelude to her eventual resignation.”
Sadiq Khan claims report is ‘biased’
Mr Khan responded to the allegations in the report, describing them as “clearly biased” and claiming they “ignore all the facts”.
He added in a statement: “On the former commissioner’s watch, trust in the police fell to record lows following a litany of terrible scandals.
“What happened was simple – I lost confidence in the former commissioner’s ability to make the changes needed and she then chose to stand aside.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel commented: “Public confidence in the Met has been dented by a series of appalling incidents and it is vital that failings are addressed and professional standards restored to the level that Londoners deserve.”
