Camberwell and Peckham MP demands resignation of Met commissioner Cressida Dick over women’s safety fears following conviction of Wayne Couzens

Camberwell and Peckham MP Harriet Harman has called for the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Cressida Dick to quit, saying “women’s confidence in police will have been shattered”.

PC Wayne Couzens was sentence to a whole life sentence today for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard – which means he will die behind bars.

Harriet Harman, mother of the House of Commons, wrote a letter to Dame Cressida Dick and another to home secretary Priti Patel.

The letter to the Met commissioner read: “Following the heartbreaking and horrifying killing of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police officer, women’s confidence in the police will have been shattered.

“Women need to be confident that the police are there to make them safe, not put them at risk.

“Women need to be able to trust the police, not to fear them.

“I have written to the home secretary to set out a number of actions which must be taken to rebuild the shattered confidence of women in the police service.

“I think it is not possible for you to lead these necessary actions in the Metropolitan Police.

“I am sure that you must recognise this, and I ask you to resign to enable these changes to be taken through and for women to be able to have justified confidence in the police.”

She further told Ms Patel: “It is clear there had been all too many warning signs about him which had been swept under the carpet.

“It cannot be rebuilt with the attempt to reassure that this was just, as the Metropolitan Police commissioner said, one ‘bad ‘un’.”