By Press Association 2021
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson will discuss ways to protect women and girls from violence with the head of the Metropolitan Police amid a storm of criticism over the force’s handling of a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard.
The Prime Minister is expected to chair a meeting of the Government’s Crime and Justice Taskforce on Monday, with Dame Cressida Dick – who has resisted calls to quit over the events – among the attendees.
In ugly scenes on Saturday, officers clashed with crowds gathered on Clapham Common to remember the 33-year-old marketing executive who went missing while walking home from a friend’s flat on March 3.
The head of the Metropolitan Police has said she will not stand down despite calls for her to quit over her force’s actions at a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard.
Cressida Dick said what happened to the 33-year-old “appals me” and made her “more determined, not less” to lead the organisation.
She welcomed the Home Secretary’s request for an independent investigation into the events, which she described as “fiendishly difficult policing”.
In ugly scenes on Saturday night, officers clashed with crowds who had gathered on Clapham Common to remember the marketing executive.
Ms Dick said: “What happened to Sarah appals me. As you know, I’m the first woman commissioner of the Met, perhaps it appals me, in a way, even more because of that. What has happened makes me more determined, not less, to lead my organisation.