Paul Condon tells inquiry there was ‘appalling behaviour by individual officers’ but that greater fault was systemic
A former Metropolitan police commissioner has admitted that the force failed over decades to properly control a controversial undercover unit that committed “horrendous” abuses, the spycops inquiry has heard.
Paul Condon said he was appalled by the wrongdoing of the unit, which spent 40 years spying on tens of thousands of political activists.
Continue reading...Body of former MP, 78, found with serious injuries at her Dartmoor home on Thursday morning
A murder investigation has been launched after the suspicious death of the former MP Ann Widdecombe at her home on Dartmoor, in Devon, police have said.
Widdecombe’s body was found with “serious injuries” by the ambulance service at an address in Haytor, Devon, at 11.40am on Thursday. The police said officers were searching for a “white male” in connection with her death.
Continue reading...Inquiry co-chaired by David Blunkett uncovers loss of focus on fighting crime, plus low standards and need for reform
Police leadership in England and Wales is plagued by “nepotism and bias” and too many chiefs have lost focus on fighting crime, a government-backed report has found.
The inquiry, co-chaired by former home secretary David Blunkett, found a reset was needed at all levels, with scores of top officers facing misconduct inquiries.
Continue reading...Popular national pastimes of drinking and football will make post-Mexico Monday a day of sore heads and sleepy children
England are through to the round of 16 in the World Cup and, as is customary in the run-up to a major international footballing fixture, the country may be losing its mind.
Because piled on top of the 60 years of hurt for the men’s team, England fans have another obstacle to overcome with the forthcoming fixture: a gruelling kick-off time of 1am BST.
Continue reading...IOPC confirms complaints from three survivors of alleged sexual misconduct by late Harrods owner in addition to ongoing investigation
Survivors of abuse at the hands of the late Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed have complained to a watchdog about how the Metropolitan police handled allegations.
More than 400 claims of sexual misconduct have been made against Al Fayed, including rape and human trafficking, dating between 1977 and 2014.
Continue reading...YouGov survey of six countries shows respondents think crime is increasing – though most trust their national police
Western Europeans believe crime is rising in their country, according to a survey, despite long-term overall crime rates falling across the region since the mid-1990s.
The YouGov poll of Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain found most countries trusted their national police, led by Denmark where 74% of respondents said they had a lot or a fair amount of confidence in police nationally.
Continue reading...Claims of two-tier policing and uncontrolled immigration may not be borne out by the facts, but that has not stopped them being played up for political ends
As the people of Glengormley, on the northern edge of Belfast, tidied up and prepared for more violence in the midst of what has been described as a modern-day pogrom, a court 500 miles away in Southampton, on the south coast of England, started to deal with its own outbreak of thuggery.
The trigger for this week’s riots in the Northern Irish capital had been the image of a black assailant who appeared to be stabbing and slashing his supine white victim in the face and neck while shouting in Arabic. The suspect was later revealed to be a refugee from Sudan.
Continue reading...Leon O’Leary threw a smoke grenade and Connor Bishop a traffic cone at officers during disturbance in Southampton
Two men who threw a smoke grenade and traffic cone at police during the violence in Southampton that followed the sentencing of Henry Nowak’s killer have been jailed.
Leon O’Leary, 41, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, was sentenced to three years and one month after throwing a smoke grenade at officers.
Continue reading...David Stroud grabbed a woman’s hair and asked if he could kiss her two days after legislation took effect
A train passenger has become the first person to be sentenced under a new harassment law after a prosecution brought by the British Transport Police (BTP).
David Stroud, 44, grabbed a woman’s hair and asked her “can I kiss you?” on a rail journey to London on 3 April, two days after the new legislation came into force banning harassment motivated by a person’s sex.
Continue reading...Vice-president and state department look to push far-right idea that mass migration is causing civilisational decline
In the state department of past administrations, how to respond to an incendiary event such as the murder of the British student Henry Nowak would have required deliberations, memos and meetings. Given how it has roiled the UK and inflamed tensions over migration and race, the cautious diplomats at Foggy Bottom probably would have said nothing at all.
Now they tweet from the hip. “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline,” the department’s official account posted on Thursday. “They must be rejected across the West.”
Continue reading...State department warns of ‘ideological conditioning’ in message of condolence to family of murdered student
The US state department has criticised “two-tiered policing” in Britain in a message of condolence to the family of the murder victim Henry Nowak in a thinly veiled rebuke of the UK government.
The 18-year-old student’s murder has been claimed by some as evidence of two-tier policing in the UK – the argument that some groups of people are dealt with more harshly than others for ideological reasons.
Continue reading...PM says Britons are ‘reasonable, tolerant people’ and backs MP’s legal action against Grok firm over fake sexualised images
Elon Musk is “interfering in our politics” and attempting to create division, Keir Starmer has said in a significant toughening of government language about the X owner.
The prime minister’s comments come after weeks of posts by Musk on his social media platform about the murder of Henry Nowak, many of which have used far-right themes and talking points.
Continue reading...Home secretary’s condenmation of ‘misinformation and inflammatory commentary’ comes after death threats to police
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has warned of a “dangerous undercurrent” in the wake of the murder of Henry Nowak, who was falsely accused of racism by a Sikh man who had fatally stabbed him with a ceremonial dagger.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years for the December 2025 murder of 18-year-old Nowak.
Continue reading...Police officer in charge says budget could reach £19.3m and nearly 100 more investigators are needed
The police criminal inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal faces a five-year delay unless it is handed millions in extra funding and nearly 100 more staff, according to the chief officer in charge.
The Metropolitan police commander Stephen Clayman said he needed to nearly double the number of investigators to 210 to meet a deadline of late next year or early 2028 for submitting files to prosecutors.
Continue reading...Government announces a near tenfold increase but forces fear it will not cover anticipated cost of dedicated teams
Keir Starmer’s government has announced a near tenfold increase in funding for detectives hunting grooming gangs but has been warned by police that the amount will “likely fall short” of what is needed.
Operation Beaconport, which was set up last year to review closed group-based sexual exploitation inquiries in England and Wales, will receive nearly £38m, a Home Office statement said – up from £4m given last year.
Continue reading...Retired NHS worker Nicholas Stone died after becoming unwell at protest against far-right Bristol Patriots
The police watchdog is investigating the use of force against a retired NHS worker who attended a counter-demonstration against the far right and died shortly after contact with officers there.
Nicholas Stone, 65, who lived in Bristol, died on 10 January after becoming unwell at a protest opposing the rightwing group Bristol Patriots, who were demonstrating in the city centre.
Continue reading...Victim in his 20s was beaten up in north London street having stepped outside to use his phone
A Jewish man is being treated in hospital for injuries to his face and body after being attacked by a number of men in north London.
Police were called in the early hours of Monday morning following reports that a Jewish man had been assaulted by a number of men outside a property on the Grove in Golders Green.
Continue reading...Unspecified number of officers from royalty and specialist protection team being investigated, force confirms
Police officers accused of being asleep when they were supposed to be protecting the royal family at Windsor Castle have been placed under investigation.
An unspecified number of officers from the Metropolitan police’s royalty and specialist protection team are being investigated after concerns were raised, the force confirmed. The Sun, which first reported the story, said up to 30 officers were involved.
Continue reading...Nigel Farage’s party proposed to place detention centres in places that vote for Green council leaders or MPs
Keir Starmer has said that Europe has to face up to the fact that its alliance with the US is under strain.
He made the remark in public comments during the plenary session at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan in Armenia.
And both of those are impacting all of us in a very material way.
In the United Kingdom, if you look at the economic forecast now and compare it to the economic forecast just three or four months ago, they are in materially different places, and this is going to play out with our electorates in all of our countries.
Reform are now openly threatening voters and not only that they’re threatening them with a power they don’t actually have. This is absolutely pathetic. People across Scotland are proud of the fact that this is a welcoming country that shows solidarity to people who need it.
Reform are essentially saying ‘If you don’t vote the way we want you to, we will punish you’. I think the people of Scotland and voters across the UK are not going to take kindly to that kind of Donald Trumpesque threat.
Reform know that absolutely bombed last week. The only thing they’ve got to move on to are open threats, not against the Greens but against voters across the country. It’s really quite sinister. This is exactly the kind of politics you see in Donald Trump’s America. People across Scotland are going to reject that on Thursday.
Continue reading...PM worried about ‘cumulative’ effect of marches, as Met chief says Jewish communities facing biggest threat
Some pro-Palestinian demonstrations could be stopped, the prime minister has warned, as the UK’s most senior police officer said the threat to the Jewish community was greater than it had ever been.
Keir Starmer indicated he wanted the language expressed on some protest marches to be subjected to “tougher action” as he sought to allay the fears of British Jews after a series of attacks on their communities in recent weeks.
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