Top Cop Dame Cressida Dick gets contract extended for two years, amid calls for her resignation

Top cop Dame Cressida Dick will be in charge for another two years, despite criticism of institutional corruption within the Metropolitan police.

The Home Secretary Priti Patel announced today that the current Commissioner Dick will continue to lead the Met until April 2024.

The extension, which is granted by Her Majesty the Queen, was also supported by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

The announcement comes after critics of the Commissioner called for her to be replaced yesterday.

In an open letter shared with the Daily Mail,  authors including Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, called on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to replace Commissioner Dick and accused her of “presiding over a culture of incompetence and cover-up”.

They said the 60-year-old “must be properly investigated for her conduct”, along with her “predecessors and those in her inner circle, who she appointed and who have questions to answer”.

Earlier this year, Alastair Morgan, the brother of murdered private detective Daniel Morgan, called for the Commissioner to resign.

Daniel Morgan was found with an axe embedded in his head in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham on March 10, 1987.

A recent report published by an independent panel accused the Metropolitan Police of “a form of institutional corruption” in relation to the handling of the death of the father-of-two.

Speaking to members of General London Assembly’s (GLA) police and crime committee in July, Mr Morgan condemned the Met for “colonising” his life for the last three and a half decades.

Both Commissioner Dick and her deputy Stephen House rejected any accusations of corruption, though the Commissioner did apologise for the failure to bring anyone to justice over Mr Morgan’s murder.

Speaking today, Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said: “I am immensely honoured and humbled to have been asked to extend my time as Commissioner for a further two years. I am proud to continue to serve my city.

“In the last four and a half years Met teams have dealt with some extraordinary challenges, including most recently in the pandemic, and delivered some fantastic results – critically in reducing violent crimes. In addition, we have grown and modernised.

“I look forward to continuing to work with my dedicated, courageous colleagues and the public to create an even more visible, stronger and professional Met. We will strive to prevent and reduce violence and the crimes Londoners care most about, bring more criminals to justice, and protect, support and build the confidence of all our communities.

“I’d like to thank the Mayor, the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister for the confidence they have shown in me. I am acutely aware that there are many excellent leaders in policing.”