Ex-Met chief blames Theresa May for causing Britain’s policing crisis and calls her the ‘worst-ever home secretary’ and a ‘disaster’ as Prime Minister
- Britain’s crime epidemic is the fault of Theresa May, Lord John Stevens has said
- His stinging intervention came as London’s 2019 murder rate climbed to 69
- Boris Johnson has pledged to put 20,000 more PCs on streets if he enters No 10
Published: 04:09 EDT, 6 July 2019 | Updated: 08:50 EDT, 6 July 2019
Lord John Stevens branded Theresa May’s tenure in No 10 ‘disastrous’ in a stinging attack on legacy both as PM and home secretary
Britain’s violent street crime epidemic is the direct fault of Theresa May, according to the former head of Scotland Yard who branded the outgoing Prime Minister’s tenure ‘disastrous’.
In a stinging attack on her legacy, Lord John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner from 2000 to 2004, said her time in office has been a ‘dark period’ that eroded the public’s trust in policing.
Pointing to budget cuts and tumbling officer numbers, he said that senior policemen regard Mrs May’s leadership of the Home Office as the worst ever.
His intervention came as the capital’s 2019 murder toll climbed to 69 last night after a man in his mid-20s was shot in Wembley, north London.
Lord Stevens told LBC: ‘I think we witnessed a complete breakdown of trust and confidence between her and overworked police officers.
‘It really has been a pretty poor period of time. Well, unprecedented. We all think it’s probably been the worst period of anyone who’s been a home secretary, ever.’
Theresa May, pictured today arriving at the Henley Regatta, has been branded by Sir John Stevens, former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police as ‘a disaster’
Mrs May, centre, was accompanied by her husband Philip to the Henley Regatta today as her time in office was described as ‘a dark period’ by Britain’s former top police officer Sir John Stevens, who was head of the Met Police between 2000 and 2004
Sir John also described Mrs May’s leadership of the Home Office as ‘the worst ever’
Pointing to budget cuts and tumbling officer numbers, he said that senior policemen regard Mrs May’s leadership of the Home Office as the worst ever
And pressed if Mrs May had been the most disastrous home secretary and prime minister in terms of policing, he replied: ‘I don’t like to say things when people are down, but I really do believe that, and it’s just not me saying it.’
The former most high-ranking police officer in the UK joins four other past Met Commissioners calling on the next prime minister to pin policing at the top of their agenda.
Conservative leadership front runner Boris Johnson has pledged to put an extra 20,000 officers on the beat if he wins the race for Number 10.
In a bid to be the torchbearer of law and order, the former London mayor has also promised to increase the use of stop and search powers.
Conservative leadership front runner Boris Johnson has pledged to put an extra 20,000 officers on the beat if he wins the race for Number 10
The capital, which Mr Johnson ran from 2008 to 2016, was rocked last night by the death of a man in his mid-20s who suffered fatal gunshot wounds shortly after 8pm on Harrow Road, Wembley.
Scotland Yard said his next of kin have been informed, but he has not yet been formally identified.
No arrests have been made.
A man was shot dead in north west London last night, the 69th murder in the capital this year. Pictured: Officers at the scene this morning on Harrow road, Wembley, which remains closed
The killing on Harrow Road is the 69th murder in London this year, pictured
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