Met chief Rowley grilled by MPs over force becoming ‘national disgrace'

SIR MARK ROWLEY was today accused of helping to turn the Met into a “national disgrace” as MPs claimed that he had turned a “blind eye” to past failings in his force.

- Martin Bentham

In an angry exchange at the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, Conservative backbencher James Daly said the Met had been a “complete and utter mess” for a long time and the Commissioner as a former senior officer in the force was one of those responsible.

Another Conservative, Lee Anderson, his party’s deputy chairman, said he found it “pretty hard to believe” Sir Mark’s assertion to the committee that he could not recall any incidents that he had witnessed during his long police career. “You must have been walking round with your eyes closed,” Mr Anderson said, adding that that Met Commissioner was “in denial” about what had gone on in the past.

Sir Mark hit back by insisting that he had always stood for high standards and was currently “doubling down on standards more ferociously” than had been done for decades.