The Metropolitan Police is reeling from yet another damning expose, with undercover footage revealing officers calling for immigrants to be shot and bragging about stamping on detainees’ legs – leaving Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley under intense pressure to quit. The scandal has reignited fury over the force’s perceived culture of misogyny and racism, piling pressure on the top brass to act decisively.
In a BBC Panorama documentary aired this week, reporter Rory Bibb infiltrated Charing Cross station, capturing shocking clips of officers like PC Phil Neilson – off-duty in a pub – ranting about one migrant man: “Either put a bullet through his head or deport him.” He branded Algerians and Somalis “scum” and decried a migrant “invasion”. Another, PC Martin Borg, laughed about a colleague’s violent assault on a suspect and offered to falsify a witness statement.
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Sir Mark, appointed in 2022 amid the fallout from the Sarah Everard murder, apologised unreservedly on LBC, calling the behaviour “reprehensible and completely unacceptable”. He said: “Officers behaving in such appalling, criminal ways let down our communities. For that, I am truly sorry.”
He suspended nine officers and a civilian within 24 hours, disbanded the custody team and boasted of sacking over 1,400 staff in three years – calling it the “biggest clear-out in the force’s history”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer branded the footage “shocking” and urged a “very robust” response, while Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called it “sickening” and demanded chiefs use new powers to dismiss the guilty.
Meanwhile former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has long called for Sir Mark’s head, accusing him of presiding over “two-tier policing” in handling protests.
Sir Mark insisted he has the backing of Ms Mahmood and Mayor Sadiq Khan, vowing: “Our resolve to identify, confront and get rid of them is absolute.” However, with trust in the Met badly compromised, questions remain about whether he is the man to fix it, or simply part of the problem?
