Summary
Here’s a roundup of the key developments in UK politics today:
- Dame Cressida Dick’s resignation as Met police chief has been welcomed by critics who said they were “delighted” by her decision to go. Alastair Morgan, who has spent decades campaigning for justice for his brother Daniel, who was killed with an axe in a pub car park in Sydenham, south-east London, in the 1980s, said Dame Cressida has “disappointed” his family on every level.
- The new Met chief must be prepared to tackle the “policing culture” which has left the country’s biggest force reeling from a series of scandals, the home secretary, Priti Patel, has warned. Patel, who is beginning the search for a successor to Cressida Dick, said it would require “strong and decisive leadership” to rebuild public confidence in the force’s “integrity and professionalism”.
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It is understood those connected with the inquiry to partygate do not believe the loss of Cressida Dick will damage or hinder the inquiry, or make it any more prone to any attempt to sway its course. A Met source told The Guardian: “The investigation is continuing.”
- Speculation has begun regarding who will replace Cressida Dick as the Metropolitan police commissioner. Contenders include Neil Basu, an assistant commissioner who previously worked as the head of counter-terrorism, Matt Jukes, another assistant commissioner, and Lucy D’Orsi, who is currently the chief constable of the British Transport Police.
- Pressure is mounting on No 10 to make clear it will have no direct involvement in the choice of the next Met police commissioner, given the current investigation into Downing Street lockdown parties, and that it should refrain from trying to influence the inquiry. However, an “ally” of the prime minister told the Times in a veiled warning that the police ought to think very carefully before issuing any penalty to the prime minister.
- The chancellor appeared to suggest that he does not expect to be asked to fill out a police questionnaire about his involvement in a No 10 event that possibly broke Covid rules. Scotland Yard has said it will be sending formal legal questionnaires to more than 50 individuals, from whom officers involved with Operation Hillman – the probe into so-called “partygate” – wish to hear.
- The Metropolitan police decided initially to not investigate allegations of lockdown-breaching parties in and around Downing Street in part because no one had admitted taken part and there was no social media footage, a legal document has shown. In a response by legal campaign group the Good Law Project for a judicial review about the Met’s decision in early December to not launch an inquiry, the police force’s lawyers pointed to guidelines saying it did not investigate Covid breaches retrospectively.
- The Labour MP Neil Coyle has had the whip suspended after allegations he made racist comments to a journalist in a House of Commons bar, a party spokesperson said. It comes after a complaint by Henry Dyer, a political reporter for the Insider website, about the alleged behaviour of Coyle, who has since apologised for his “insensitive” comments.
- Several protests are due to take place on Saturday in response to the impact of the cost of living crisis on workers and their families. The People’s Assembly has coordinated hundreds of local and regional demonstrations, supported by trade unions, with people planning to take to the streets across the country.
- The UK’s equalities watchdog is facing calls for it to lose its status as an internationally recognised human rights body amid claims of politicisation and taking a “determinedly anti-trans stance”. A coalition of 19 LGBT+ organisations led by Stonewall and supported by the Good Law Project says the Equality and Human Rights Commission has taken a “recent and significant” shift on trans rights.
- Defence secretary Ben Wallace said he is not as optimistic as he used to be about quelling the crisis on the Ukrainian border. He told a press conference in Moscow: “I think the direction of travel has been against the direction of the diplomatic travel over the last few weeks.”
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Defence secretary Ben Wallace said he is not as optimistic as he used to be about quelling the crisis on the Ukrainian border.
He told a press conference in Moscow:
I think the direction of travel has been against the direction of the diplomatic travel over the last few weeks.
We’ve seen continued build-up of forces as we’ve seen a build up of diplomacy, and you would hope that, actually... one goes up, one goes down - and I think that is why my optimism is not as (optimistic) as I used to be, or can be.
And I’m hoping that the beginning today is an effort to try and see if there is a way forward to make sure we do de-escalate.
We’ll keep trying. I think the international community is trying very hard – obviously President Macron’s visit, Prime Minister Johnson spoke to President Putin... recently as well. And indeed, I think the new Chancellor of Germany is coming to visit next week.
I think it is very important that we give the Russian government, give them all a chance to provide the reassurance they are seeking about the intentions of Nato, but also to give us the airtime to hear from them their assurances that they have no intention of invading Ukraine as well.
