Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has told the he will not resign from his position, after a Panorama investigation revealed evidence of misogyny and racism in the force.
Speaking to Radio London, he said those circulating rumours of his resignation within the Met were “the misogynists and racists, frankly, who want me out, because it’s them who we’re taking on”.
The commissioner agreed that a range of factors that show systemic issues need to be rooted out, but stopped short of calling the issues institutional.
He highlighted that the force had improved since he started his role three years ago, but accepted there was still a “cancer to be removed”.
Sir Mark became the force’s chief after the murder of Sarah Everard, who was killed by a serving officer, at the time he vowed to remove wrongdoers from the Met.
The commissioner described Panorama’s footage, obtained by secret filming, as “vile to watch”, calling the officers involved “ghastly, ghastly individuals”.
In the footage, serving Met Police officers can be seen calling for immigrants to be shot, revelling in the use of force and being dismissive of rape claims.
Sir Mark said he understood Londoners would feel “upset and angry” over the “toxic views” expressed. However, he said his force has done an “extraordinary amount” to root out such officers since the Casey Review, ordered after the murder of Sarah Everard in 2021 by serving police officer Wayne Couzens.
Pressed on whether he should have accepted the review’s finding that the Met was institutionally racist and misogynistic, Sir Mark insisted the Met was “part way through the biggest counter-corruption initiative policing has ever seen in this country”.
Nearly 1,500 men and women had been removed from the Met, he said, adding: “Londoners have my word, we won’t stop until it’s finished.”
When asked if he would apologise and take personal responsibility for what was uncovered in the investigation, he said he had apologised “several times” in his statement, adding that “everything the Met does” is his “personal responsibility”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he had yet to see the ‘s footage for himself, but called it “shocking” based on what had been described to him.
He said he was glad Sir Mark was responding, and called on him to be “very robust in his response.”
Parm Sandhu, a former chief superintendent in the Met, questioned how the force would “find the solutions” to the issues raised in the ‘s investigation if it did not accept it had an “institutional problem”.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday ahead of Sir Mark’s interview, she said she was “not surprised at all” by what Panorama had found, adding that the “behaviours are not new”.
“They’ve been exposed before, they’ve been buried before and they’ve been tolerated before, and every single time there’s a promise that the toxic culture will be rooted out, but it comes back every single time,” Sandhu said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the documentary exposed racism, anti-Muslim hatred, misogyny and criminal behaviour by officers, but that Rowley had his “full confidence” and insisted he was the “right person to undertake the change that we need”.
However, he also said he questioned Rowley on why it took journalists to expose this behaviour, which “let down” London irrespective of the commissioner’s efforts.
Khan described the Metropolitan Police as an “institutionally racist”, “institutionally sexist” and “institutionally homophobic” organisation. The commissioner has not himself used these terms to describe the force.
Zoe Billingham, who served as Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary from 2009 to 2021, told The World Tonight on Radio 4 on Wednesday that Sir Mark was a “reforming” figure, but that the revelations were “tricky” for him.
“I do think the pace of change really now needs to be demonstrated to Londoners if that precious bond of trust is to be restored,” she said.
Sir Mark told Radio London that the majority of his officers were “good people” who cared deeply about policing London, despite the “far too big of a minority who don’t”.
He added Panorama’s documentary showed that progress had been made as officers who held such views were “going underground”, and the Met would continue to “go after them and remove them”.
Londoners “should trust us because the vast majority of men and women are on the streets day in-day out, working desperately hard to protect them”, he said of the force.
“They’ve got courage, they’ve got compassion, they’ve got determination”, he said.
