Policing Minister: Cressida Dick is 'the right person for the job'

1 October 2021, 09:11 | Updated: 1 October 2021, 09:24

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse: Met Commissioner Cressida Dick is 'the right person for the job'

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse has told LBC's Nick Ferrari that Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick is "the right person for the job".

Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick is facing mounting calls to resign after Wayne Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life prison for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard.

Couzens used his authority as a police officer to trick Sarah Everard into getting into his car by carrying out a false arrest.

The Policing Minister told LBC that he's "not shy about commenting on the performance of commissioners and previous commissioners obviously were moved on because of that".

He added: "But my view is that, given the fight against crime and the conviction and commitment that Cressida [Dick] is showing to improvement in the Metropolitan Police, she's the right person for the job."

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'We have to sort out the police so that they can protect us.'

Following the judge's decision to sentence Couzens to life behind bars, the Mother of the House of Commons, Labour MP Harriet Harman, has led calls for Dame Cressida to resign.

She should "recognise it's best for her to go," Ms Harman told LBC's Shelagh Fogarty.

"It was on her watch that the warning signs on Sarah Everard's killer were missed."

"As soon as an allegation is made we need an immediate investigation and a prompt suspension. I didn't want to see Cressida Dick fail but it's because I want to see the changes, I want to see them taken through with energy and determination. I know she cannot do that."

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'Who is next? What will be her name?'

In a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel, Ms Harman wrote that the "confidence of women in the police will have been shattered" by Couzens' actions.

"It is clear that there had been all too many warning signs about him which had been swept under the carpet," she continued, in a reference to previous allegations about sexual offences committed by Couzens and the revelation that colleagues had nicknamed him "The Rapist" as he made women feel uncomfortable.

However, Lord Stevens, former commissioner of the Met Police, said Dame Cressida should stay in her post.

"I think she should stay, and carry on," he told Nick Ferrari on LBC.

"I think the phrase 'I'm staying, we are changing' is the way forward."