Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called on Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to act 'further and faster' in delivering reforms following the damning Casey review. Speaking at a press conference, Starmer criticised the government's 'hands off approach' to police reform and committed a future Labour government to introducing mandatory national rules for police vetting.
Starmer described the lack of such rules as 'extraordinary', particularly in light of recent cases of violence against women by police officers. The Casey review, commissioned after Sarah Everard's murder, found the Met to be institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic, and warned there may be more officers like killers Wayne Couzens and David Carrick.
Starmer said the 'biggest danger' is that the report 'becomes just another report rather than the beginning of real, lasting change'. He affirmed that a Labour government would fully accept the findings, which provide both a diagnosis and a blueprint for radical reform. He stressed the need for deep cultural change, transforming the police 'from a force to a service'.
Comparing the required overhaul to post-Good Friday Agreement policing reforms in Northern Ireland, Starmer stated: 'If we can get Catholics to serve in Northern Ireland, I won't expect any special pleading that the Met can't represent modern London.' He has previously suggested the Met might need to change its name as part of a 'root and branch' review.
