Sadiq Khan was today accused of a “completely unacceptable” failure to respond to the “acute ethical issues” raised by the Met’s bungled inquiry into VIP sexual abuse allegations.
Lord Carlile QC, the former head of City Hall’s ethics panel, said the failure of Operation Midland — which investigated false allegations against the former home secretary Leon Brittan and ex-Army chief Lord Bramall among others — had exposed concerns about policing which “clearly required action”. He said these issues — which included whether a complaint should be believed before an investigation had begun — should have been addressed by City Hall’s London Policing Ethics Panel.
But he said that the Mayor and his staff had instead been guilty of “inertia” and had appeared “uninterested” in taking action. Lord Carlile’s criticisms follow a decision by the Deputy Mayor for Policing, Sophie Linden, to replace him as the head of the panel.
The four other panel members, whose contracts expired at the last mayoral election, are also being replaced and Ms Linden is seeking to identify and appoint new personnel.
City Hall said the delay in creating a new panel is the result of the large volume of reforms since Mr Khan’s election and denied that it has been neglecting policing ethics.
Lord Carlile claimed, however, that the Mayor’s failure to convene the ethics panel since his election had led to serious problems not being addressed. He said these included the failings in Operation Midland which were highlighted in a highly critical report by the former judge Sir Richard Henriques.
Lord Carlile added: “Events have unfolded which clearly required work by the policing ethics panel, a striking example being the aftermath of Operation Midland and the acute ethical issues raised by Henriques. It is completely unacceptable that the Mayor and deputy mayor for six months failed to address the... necessity of the continued work of an independent ethics panel and that they are now starting again.” Lord Carlile added that he was also worried that the new panel would be appointed “on the basis of political loyalties” and lack independence.
Ms Linden rejected the criticism and said that City Hall believed that monitoring “the ethics and the quality of policing” was “important for increasing public trust” in the Met. She added: “Policing issues and tactics of public concern need independent oversight, which is why the London Policing Ethics Panel will be continuing its work. A recruitment process for a new panel will be under way very soon.”
A City Hall spokeswoman also rejected claims that the Mayor was not responding adequately to the Henriques report and insisted that Mr Khan was working with the Met to address the problems highlighted by the failure of its inquiry into VIP sex abuse allegations.
