Sadiq Khan challenged over 'amateurish, shoddy and childish' briefing

2022-12-13

Sadiq Khan challenged over ‘amateurish, shoddy and childish’ media briefing against former police watchdog who criticised London mayor over Cressida Dick’s exit as Met Police chief

Sadiq Khan challenged over ‘amateurish, shoddy and childish’ media briefing
Sir Thomas Winsor lashes out at document sent to journalists by mayor’s office
It was sent on same day as release of critical report over Met Police chief’s exit

London mayor Sadiq Khan was challenged today over an ‘amateurish, shoddy and childish’ media briefing against a former police watchdog.

Sir Thomas Winsor, the former inspectorate of constabulary, lashed out at a seven-page document sent to journalists by the mayor’s office.

He told a City Hall committee it was sent the same day as he released his report into the departure of Dame Cressida Dick as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

In a shock announcement in February, Dame Cressida revealed she would quit as Britain’s most senior police officer after losing the confidence of Mr Khan.

When Sir Thomas published his report into her departure in September, he found she had been intimidated into leaving her job and concluded Mr Khan had not followed due process.

Appearing before the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee today, Sir Thomas criticised the ‘briefing document’ sent to journalists on the day he released his report.

‘It’s not a press release, it’s a briefing document which journalists were required to explain their credentials before City Hall staff would hand it over – that’s how I got it,’ Sir Thomas told the committee.

‘I was really quite startled at how negative the briefing was, and also how amateurish, shoddy and childish it was. But it is as it is.’

Sir Thomas Winsor, the former inspectorate of constabulary, lashed out at a seven-page document sent to journalists by Sadiq Khan’s office

The London mayor was challenged over the ‘amateurish, shoddy and childish’ media briefing against the former police watchdog

When Sir Thomas published his report into Dame Cressida Dick’s departure, he found she had been intimidated into leaving her job and concluded Mr Khan had not followed due process

Mr Khan told the committee he was ‘not sure’ about the details of the document being referred to.

‘Sir Tom may put out one press release a year but I put out more than one, so I’m just not aware of the detail of the press pack,’ the mayor added.

But Sir Thomas produced a copy of the document and revealed how it ‘went right back to my time as rail regulator’ in the early 2000s under the New Labour government.

Susan Hall, the Tory chair of the committee, noted how Mr Khan has previously accused Sir Thomas of ‘bias’ in his report on Dame Cressida’s exit as Met Police chief.

‘It’s about bias, yes, and the mayor said Sir Tom was biased and couldn’t be objective,’ she said.

‘Putting out press releases like that is not helpful, I would have thought.’

Sir Thomas denied his report was a ‘political hatchet job’.

In a shock announcement in February, Dame Cressida revealed she would quit as Britain’s most senior police officer after losing the confidence of Mr Khan

Later, Sir Thomas said an unnamed former home secretary was so angry about the treatment of Dame Cressida they suggested a mechanism be put in place to sack the mayor from the role of police and crime commissioner (PCC) for the capital.

The anonymous politician proposed that a mechanism could be created to allow the Home Secretary to oust a PCC if they were found by an independent review to have forced a senior officer out of their job.

Sir Thomas told the committee: ‘I decided not to include it in my report, because I thought that it would distract from the rest of the report. And I don’t think that it is democratically realistic.

‘This option was not one of my devising. It was given to me by a former home secretary, who was furious with what had happened in the case of Cressida Dick.’

Sir Thomas and Mr Khan both gave evidence in a bad-tempered session at the committee last month and were called back today to answer further questions on the issue.

Former home secretary Priti Patel said she was not able to attend.

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