Isabel Hardman

Dick’s departure is Sadiq Khan’s victory

Boris's government is now in an extremely awkward position over the Met

• 10 February 2022, 7:59pm

• Text settings

  Text size

  • Small
  • Medium
  • Large

  Line Spacing

  • Compact
  • Normal
  • Spacious
• Comments
• Share

  Share

  Isabel Hardman

  Dick’s departure is Sadiq Khan’s victory

  

  Copy link

  • Linkedin
  • Messenger
  • Email

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Subscribe today to get 3 months' delivery of the magazine, as well as online and app access, for only £3.

• Weekly delivery of the magazine
• Unlimited access to our website and app
• Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
• Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Most popular

Alexander Larman

What happened to the Rishi Sunak I knew at school?

Even though the Met is clearly an institutional basket case, it is such a prestigious organisation that there will always be someone senior willing to take on the Commissioner role. The challenges facing that person are enormous, and not just in terms of addressing the immediate cultural problems in the force. How can officers police by consent when women, people from ethnic minorities and gay men all have recent cases to vindicate a distrust of the Met? Changing cultures takes years, as well as enormous changes to recruitment, training and disciplinary processes. 

Whoever takes over will need to be in it for the long haul, while also having the ability to convince a lot of people — especially those who aren’t powerful and are just fearful for their safety — that change is still happening rapidly.