'Strategic issues' for Met as campaigner tells how officers ignored ‘Nazi, Nicholas scum' chants

MET chief Sir Mark Rowley was under mounting pressure today over the force’s policing of pro-Gaza marches and another failure on the Stephen Lawrence murder case.

- Nicholas Cecil, Martin Bentham and Ross Lydall

Mayor Sadiq Khan was meeting London’s police commissioner this afternoon to discuss the two issues, which have sparked fresh concerns about the force’s leadership.

Sir Mark was also due to meet Home Secretary James Cleverly, who was expected to hold him to “account for what happened” in a “deeply regrettable” incident where an officer described the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s chief executive Gideon Falter as “openly Jewish” as he stopped him crossing the street through a march.

Rishi Sunak said the Commissioner continued to have his confidence but stressed that he shared “the shock and the anger” felt by many over the clips of the standoff between Mr Falter and the Met sergeant.

“What I would say about Mark Rowley and the police is they do have a difficult job, of course, I appreciate that. But what happened was clearly wrong. And it’s right that they’ve apologised for that,” the PM told a news conference this morning.

“And yes, I do have confidence in him, but that’s on the basis that he works to rebuild the confidence and trust of not just the Jewish community, but the wider public, particularly people in London... by making it clear that the police are not tolerating behaviour that we would all collectively deem unacceptable when we see it, because it undermines our values,” he added.