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Sadiq Khan has pledged to oppose the appointment of a new Met Police chief unless they have a “robust plan” to deal with the “cultural problems” that have led to a series of scandals at the force.Writing in The Observer, the London Mayor said he was “deeply concerned” that public trust and confidence in the country’s biggest police force “has been shattered so badly”, which he concluded could only be rebuilt with new leadership at the top of the Met.Dame Cressida Dick dramatically announced she was standing down as Metropolitan Police Commissioner on Thursday evening after Mr Khan made clear he had no confidence in her plans to reform the service.

It has become crystal-clear that there are deep cultural issues within the MetLondon Mayor Sadiq KhanMr Khan wrote that he will “work closely” with Priti Patel on the selection of Dame Cressida’s successor.While the Conservative Home Secretary holds the power over the appointment, she must take the Labour Mayor’s preference into account.Mr Khan wrote: “I will not support the appointment of a new commissioner unless they can clearly demonstrate that they understand the scale of the cultural problems within the Met and the urgency with which they must be addressed.“In short, they need to get it, and they need to have a proper and robust plan to deal with it.”The comments could foment tensions that arose between the Mayor and Ms Patel over the manner of Dame Cressida’s departure, just months after the Home Secretary agreed a two-year extension to her contract.Home Office sources said Ms Patel was angered by Mr Khan’s failure to inform her that he had called Dame Cressida to a meeting on Thursday afternoon, which she considered “rude and unprofessional”. More

We are living through a time of uncertainty and political turbulence – at home and overseas.At home, we take democracy for granted: we should not. It is far more complex than simply having the right to vote.In many countries, there is a widespread discontent of the governed, and democracy is in retreat. Nor is it in a state of grace in the UK.In the last decades of the 20th Century, the number of democratic countries grew dramatically: the arbiter of civil liberties, Freedom House, classified 110 nations as democratic.Democrats were so confident that their way of government was the wave of the future that they stopped arguing for it.Their confidence was premature.In each of the last fifteen years, democracy has shrunk a little, as political and civil liberties have been diminished.In many countries, democracy has never taken root. Where it has, it risks being weakened by populism – often with added xenophobia, or muzzled by elected autocracy. More

Conservationists are up in arms over a UK government decision to sign a new deal with the Faroe Islands following a record mass dolphin slaughter.Ministers have been accused of being “an absolute disgrace” and of “flying in the face of public opinion” after announcing the £5.5m agreement allowing UK and Faroe vessels to fish areas of each other’s waters.It comes after there was a worldwide uproar in September when Faroese hunters caused a bloodbath with the killing of 1,428 dolphins in one go, and dozens of pilot whales just days later.Since then, calls for the government to suspend its 2019 trade agreement with the islands until whale and dolphin hunts end have gathered pace, with 73,000 people signing a petition, and supermarkets being urged to stop selling seafood from the Faroes.UK animal welfare minister Zac Goldsmith wrote to the Faroese and Danish governments condemning the massacre.But fisheries minister Victoria Prentis said on Tuesday she was “pleased to announce” the deal that allows the UK to fish 1,000 tonnes of cod and haddock, worth £2.2m, as well as other species.Fish consumption has risen in the UK as people have stopped eating meat in recent months and years.Responses from the public on social media overwhelmingly condemned the deal when Ms Prentis announced it, some asking whether it was a joke, and others accusing the government of turning a blind eye to mass torture for money. Wildlife-protection lobbyist Dominic Dyer, who launched the petition on the government website calling for a suspension of trade, said he was very angry about the agreement, which showed how “out of touch” ministers were with public views in the UK and Europe.“It’s really badly timed. They’re giving the islanders more access to enriching the economy at a time when international opinion is definitely turning against these horrible hunts,” he told The Independent.“We need to restrict tourism to the islands and trade – we need to hurt them in their pockets and make Denmark feel the pinch so that if they lose more trade, the Danes have to pick up the bill.”The Sea Shepherd and Born Free conservation organisations are carrying out polling in Germany Denmark and Britain on the hunts – called “the grind”, which Mr Dyer was confident would show widespread opposition.The campaigners are aiming to take a delegation of leaders, politicians, naturalists and broadcasters to the islands in the spring to draw the attention of the Faroese government and Danish governments to the “cruelty that has no justification”.Mr Dyer, who said the government argued this deal was a separate strand from other post-Brexit trade, said pressure must also be put on retailers over where they source fish. If the petition reaches 100,000 names, it will be considered for debate by MPs.One commenter tweeted to Ms Prentis: “The UK had an opportunity to state its opposition to the mass #slaughter of #whales and #dolphins. This is nothing to be proud of.”Another said: “Did you by any chance bring up the subject of how they hack dolphins and whales to death in front of their terrified and struggling families? Thought not. Not one moral fibre between the lot of you!”A third told her: “Worldwide condemnation yet you choose to reward them. Shameful.”The government says the Faroe Islands are in no doubt as to the UK position on cetacean hunts, which it raises “at every relevant opportunity”.Immediately after September’s bloodbath, Sea Shepherd said it believed the slaughter had been the largest single hunt in Faroese history, and was possibly the largest single hunt of cetaceans ever recorded worldwide. It said footage showed dolphins suffered prolonged suffering before being killed.The Blue Planet Society said the EU Commission could not “sit back and let the Faroe Islands devastate Europe’s protected dolphin and small whale populations”.A government spokesperson said: “The UK is strongly opposed to the hunting of any cetaceans and continues to call on all whaling nations, including the Faroe Islands, at every relevant opportunity to cease their whaling activities in favour of well-managed, responsible tourism, such as whale-watching.” More

The union representing civil servants is set to withdraw from the Cabinet Office’s internal review into racism over concerns that it isn’t taking the process seriously.PCS said there would have to be “major changes” to the “flawed” Respect and Inclusion review, which was launched in November following mounting complaints from staff about racism.It comes after The Independent revealed concerns about systemic problems within the department from a top civil servant.Kay Badu, a Black civil servant who worked within Government Digital Service, was handed a six-figure payout by the government over allegations he faced racial discrimination in Whitehall, we reported, though the Cabinet Office said it did not admit liability and does not accept a number of the claims which have been made.Politicians and campaigners including the Labour Party, Green Party, Stand Up To Racism and Black Lives Matter have called for ministers to carry out an investigation into the department’s approach to race issues.A spokesperson for PCS said: “The revelations from Kay Badu show just how serious racial discrimination is within the Cabinet Office.“PCS supported Mr Badu while he was employed at the Cabinet Office and the settlement, he reached in no way undoes the damage his treatment caused. “We have always been sceptical of the flawed Respect and Inclusion review into racism in the Cabinet Office and it is regrettable that PCS will have to withdraw from the process, unless the Cabinet Office commits to being open and transparent, including providing the union with the full report.” The union said the review’s process lacks transparency and openness, alleging that it has been shut out of the group that is managing the review process and arguing that the timeline on the review is “ridiculously short” and should have been reported by now.Moreover, the Cabinet Office is refusing to share the full report with the union, PCS said, preventing it from confirming that the scope is robust enough. “As a consequence, we are unable to say to members that we can trust the employer to seriously tackle racism and other forms of discrimination,” the spokesperson explained.PCS also referred racism concerns of Cabinet Office staff members to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.The EHRC is awaiting the outcomes of employment tribunals, The Independent understands.The union wrote to Sarah Harrison, the chief operating officer, on Wednesday advising that it will be withdrawing from cooperation in the review in five working days unless the department agrees to the following:The final report of the respect and inclusion review to be published in full.The number of employees given a personal meeting with IPSOS MORI to be increased to an agreed level to properly capture the lived experience of racism and other discrimination of staff. More

An MP accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy 14 years ago will stand trial next month. Imran Ahmad Khan, 48, allegedly groped the 15-year-old in January 2008 at a house in Staffordshire.Mr Khan, who was elected as Conservative MP for Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 2019, appeared at the Old Bailey via video link.Ms Justice McGowan had previously fixed his 10-day trial for 21 March at Southwark Crown Court but has now delayed its start by a week.The judge said: “The fixture of the 21st is broken and we have now set the 28th.”Prosecutor Tom Little QC, said: “The prosecution are trial-ready.”The MP, who denied the single charge of sexual assault when he appeared at the Old Bailey in September, had the Tory whip suspended pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.In June last year he posted a statement on Twitter that read: “It is true that an accusation has been made against me.“May I make it clear from the outset that the allegation, which is from over 13 years ago, is denied in the strongest terms.“This matter is deeply distressing to me and I of course, take it extremely seriously.“To be accused of doing something I did not do is shocking, destabilising, and traumatic.“I am innocent.”Mr Khan, who was born in Wakefield, remains on unconditional bail. More

A Black civil servant was handed a six-figure settlement by the government over allegations of racial discrimination in Whitehall, with the deputy cabinet secretary warning that there was a “systemic issue” in the Cabinet Office, The Independent can reveal.Kay Badu, 36, said he had been subjected to bullying at the hands of white managers over the course of three years in the Cabinet Office, which left him with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. At one stage, he contemplated suicide.Mr Badu, who joined the Government Digital Service in 2018 as an executive assistant, said he was held back from promotion, that a manager had used the n-word, and that he had been asked in front of colleagues: “Why do some Black people play the race card when they get into trouble?” After raising complaints, Mr Badu later found himself the subject of an investigation.Prompted by Mr Badu’s case, Dame Helen Macnamara wrote to Alex Chisholm, the Cabinet Office permanent secretary, raising concerns about the handling of race issues in the department, which describes itself as “the centre of the UK government”.In the March 2021 letter, included in Mr Badu’s employment tribunal claim submission, Dame Helen wrote: “There is a striking absence of compassion in the way Kay was dealt with from the beginning, including the way that the organisation responded to the event where Kay told people that he had been contemplating suicide.“The grievances have allowed what has happened to be interpreted as a disagreement between individuals rather than a systemic issue.“Having heard a number of testimonies over the last year in particular, I think there is a proper question to ask about how [the Cabinet Office] deals with race at a systemic level. That is not about individuals (although individual behaviour could also be problematic); it is about whether the Cabinet Office is demonstrating it is listening to people raising these concerns and taking action to change.” More

David Cameron’s controversial legacy project has had its budget slashed by two-thirds in a review of government youth funding.The National Citizen Service (NCS), set up by the then prime minister in 2011, has had its share of cash cut from 90 per cent of the overall government budget for youth funding to just 30 per cent.It follows an investigation in The Independent that found the scheme had consistently failed to meet government targets or deliver value for money, that executives were being handed six-figure salaries despite dwindling youth participation and that a former board member said the programme was little more than “a holiday camp for mostly middle-class kids.”NCS, which has received £1.3bn of taxpayers’ money since 2011, was set up to run summer and autumn residential programmes for 16- and 17-year-olds to help them become better citizens, but no residentials were run in 2021 and only one smaller residential in autumn 2020 due to Covid-19.Now the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has dramatically reduced money for the scheme. It has announced a total youth services package of £560m over the next three years, of which £171m – 30 per cent of the total – is earmarked for the NCS, down from more than 90 per cent in previous years.This gives NCS only £57m a year, less than one-third of their typical pre-Covid funding package of around £180m a year, and a sharp reduction, too, on funding for the last two Covid-affected years of £75m and £85m respectively. Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell MP said the government had been “playing favourites” for years with Cameron’s pet project “without ensuring results and value for money”.She added: “Ministers cannot deflect from their legacy of failure, which has slashed grassroots youth support to the bone in communities across the country, whilst disproportionately funding the National Citizen Service. There is a desert of support in many areas of the north and midlands because this government has played favourites without ensuring results and value for money.”DCMS said its new spending plans were the outcome of consultations with 6,000 young people and 170 youth organisations, in which the biggest clear ask to emerge from young people was for “regular weekly clubs and activities” – in stark contrast to the one-off residentials offered by NCS, which involved young people for just two or three weeks a year. DCMS will instead use the majority of the youth budget to fund up to 300 new and refurbished youth facilities “in the most deprived parts of England”, providing young people with “a space to engage in positive activities outside of school” and ongoing “access support from youth workers”. DCMS has also effectively slapped down NCS for being too middle-class, demanding the organisation starts to “reform”, be more “cost-effective”, and reach more young people “from disadvantaged backgrounds” in a “year-round offering” as part of the government’s so-called “levelling up” agenda. The chief executive, Mark Gifford, acknowledged that the organisation would need to evolve its strategy to keep up with the expectations of users as well as meeting the “levelling up agenda” expectations of the government. Asked about the £85m last year, Mr Gifford said: “Whilst we did not run any residentials due to government restrictions, we ran programmes which delivered a similar experience, but with day travel to activities in the local community. On the summer programme, despite Covid, we reached around 35,000 young people and in autumn we reached just over 12,000. We also delivered skills booster sessions in a range of schools. We have some programmes still running and are not able to confirm final numbers for this financial year until April 2022.”Mr Gifford sought to remain upbeat, despite the funding review falling short of expectations. He said: “We’ve always been ambitious with our plans but are also aware of the incredible demands on the public purse as the country emerges from Covid. Far from feeling disappointed, we are fired with energy and optimism for what we can do to support the next generation of citizens.”Mr Gifford continues to take a remuneration package of over £160,000, with five other members of the leadership team paid well over £100,000 a year. But with current annual costs of £72m exceeding the future funding package by £15m, the organisation faces tough choices and severe cuts as it seeks to reimagine its purpose, balance its budget and keep a clear vision. More

Dominic Raab has been fiercely criticised by women’s campaigners for falsely accusing Keir Starmer of overseeing falling conviction rates for sexual offences and rape while Director of Public Prosecutions.Raab, the deputy Prime Minister, incorrectly stated convictions rates for sexual offences and rape declined while the Labour leader was DPP and head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from 2008 to 2013.“I think it is quite right to look at Keir Starmer’s record between 2008 and 201,” Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today programmeon Tuesday morning. “Conviction rates for sexual offences and rape fell between 2008 and 201.” “It is to do with Keir Starmer’s leadership as DPP.”Data from the CPS shows their conviction rates increased from 57.7 per cent to 60.3 per cent from 2007-8 and 2013-14.Harriet Wistrich, an award-winning human rights lawyer and director of the Centre for Women’s Justice, told The Independent: “The important point to make is Keir Starmer did a huge amount of work to improve prosecution of rape and sexual offences.“He was quite revolutionary as a Director of Public Prosecutions in that respect. He did far more than other DPPs to improve the prosecution approach to rape and sexual offences.“It is hugely outrageous to criticise him. The collapse in rape convictions has been in the last four or five years.”Ms Wistrich said the Conservative government can only “partly” be blamed for the fall but also attributed this trend to “reduced resources” as well as “attacks from high-profile” accused individuals who “complained after they were acquitted.”“All politicians slag each other off in whatever way they can,” the lawyer added. “But this shows a lack of understanding and analysis of what took place.”The lawyer argued it is “particularly unwarranted” to criticise Mr Starmer on the issue. Ms Wistrich noted there was a significant increase in prosecutions from 2012/2013 to 2017/2018 and then a “massive fall” in the volume of cases prosecuted until now.Andrea Simon, director of End Violence Against Women Coalition, added: “Recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show rape and sexual offences recorded by police are at the highest level on record within a 12-month period, alongside plummeting rates of perpetrators charged.“As more women are coming forward to report rape and sexual assault, they’re being confronted by a criminal justice system that too often inappropriately focuses on their ‘credibility’ rather than the actions of the perpetrator, communicates with them poorly, and ultimately is unlikely to bring them justice.“We’ve had the government’s Rape Review and the first set of rape scorecards published, but the majority of survivors of rape are not experiencing many meaningful improvements to the way the criminal justice system operates.”Ms Simon called for political leaders to stop “tinkering around the edges” of this issue and instead focus on tackling the “deeply embedded structural issues” which lead to the justice system often failing female victims of male violence.Meanwhile, Jess Phillips, shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, also hit out at Raab’s comments on Twitter. “You have a serious nerve trying to use falling rape conviction when your government has basically overseen total degradation of rape charging,” the Labour MP said. “Since you have been justice secretary sexual violence conviction has fallen. More rapists left on our streets. Cheers.” More