Priti Patel condemns ‘failure of leadership’ after racist and sexist messages shared by Metropolitan Police officers

Home secretary says ‘sickening’ exchanges not ‘one-off’ incidents as she calls for change within force

Priti Patel has criticised police leadership and culture after officers’ racist, sexist and homophobic messages were exposed. (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Wire)

Sexist, racist and homophobic messages sent by a group of Metropolitan Police officers show a “failure of leadership”, the home secretary has said.

Priti Patel said the “sickening” exchanges on WhatsApp and Facebook - which included jokes about rape, domestic violence and killing Black children - were not “one-off, isolated incidences” and reflected “problems with the culture” within the force.

“We have seen now too, too many times, too many instances where, in policing, we just see the most appalling behaviours, the most appalling conduct,” she told the Commons home affairs committee.

“I also think it shows a failure of leadership in some quarters.”

The home secretary said she confidence in Met boss Dame Cressida Dick – but that “change is required”.

Her comments came after highly-offensive language used by officers from a now disbanded team based in Westminster, primarily at Charing Cross Police station, was exposed after whistleblowers contacted the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The watchdog took the unusual step of publishing the messages in full on Tuesday, despite many of them being too offensive to print as part of mainstream news coverage, because it said it was important for the public to know.

Asked whether she believed police forces were “institutionally misogynistic”, Ms Patel told the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday: “There are problems with the culture, and some aspects of the culture, within the Metropolitan Police.

“I do think there are some very, very serious and significant matters that need, not just following up, but further investigation.

“So you’ve asked me the question about institutional misogyny within policing. There are cultural issues there. What we saw in the IOPC report absolutely points to, I’m not even going to say just misogynistic behaviours, I think it’s cultural and attitudinal.”

Asked about Ms Dick, she added: “I’ve always said that I’m confident in her and her work, but that also means that change is required.

“There are lots of issues, it’s not straightforward with the Met, and there are lots of issues there where we need to see major, major significant improvements: culture, delivery, accountability and protecting the streets.”

Two inquiries are under way looking at the culture within the Met – one by Baroness Casey that was organised by the force itself, and a Home Office probe headed by Dame Elish Angiolini that is looking at the failures behind the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the IOPC’s report had uncovered “truly appalling behaviour” and urged the Home Office to address issues in policing.

The IOPC investigation focused on a team based at Charing Cross Police station (Michael Stephens/PA) (PA Wire)

She told the BBC’s Today programme: “Officers talking and joking about raping or beating their wives, and using homophobic insults and awful racism – you cannot ever tolerate this kind of abuse, racism or misogyny, it must have no place in policing and be rooted out.”

She called for action not just from the police, but also from the Home Office, saying there must be an overhaul of training and faster vetting of officers.

The IOPC published the messages after a series of nine investigations into the behaviour of Metropolitan Police officers based in a now disbanded Westminster team between 2016 and 2018, sparked by a later disproven claim that an officer had sex with a drunk person at a police station.

Fourteen officers were investigated by the watchdog, of whom two were found to have a case to answer for gross misconduct. One was sacked and another resigned before he would have been dismissed.

Nine remain serving officers, while another is working as a contractor in a staff role.

IOPC regional director for London Sal Naseem said that the two accused of gross misconduct were the worst perpetrators, but could not confirm whether those still serving were responsible for any of the offensive comments published.

He told Good Morning Britain: “What I do know is that there were nine investigations here. The two officers who were sacked for gross misconduct were the worst perpetrators of some of these exchanges.”

Additional reporting by Press Association