A debate is now under way in the House of Commons after Home Secretary Suella Braverman's gave a statement following Baroness Casey's scathing review of the Met Police.

Dame Diana Johnson, the Labour MP and the chair of the home affairs select committee, gets to her feet. She lists historic failures by the Met and asks the home secretary what makes the findings from this report different.

Braverman responds that "instances of racism, homophobia and misogyny are unacceptable, and standards must improve".

She says Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is committed to provide a "better and more robust response".

Image source, House of Commons

Casey's report found "institutional" racism, misogyny and homophobia at the heart of the Met - but that word "institutional" has been a sticking point for some.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman says she agrees with the head of the Met Police that it's "not a helpful term to use".

"It's an ambiguous, contested, and politically-charged term that is much-misused, and risks making it harder for officers to win back the trust of communities," Braverman argues.

She says what's important is how the police respond to the issues, not whether they accept a label.

Image source, House of Commons

The shadow home secretary goes on to say that neighbourhood policing "has been decimated everywhere, not just in the Met".

Discussing how to restore this, Cooper asks: "Where are those [government] plans?"

She says Peelian principles of policing by consent - which underpin the police force - are in peril. "The police are the public, the public are the police," Cooper adds.

The policing model is in peril, Cooper adds. She says it's vital to work with the police to deliver the change that all officers and communities deserve.

Labour's Yvette Cooper says the failure to root out officers who have been accused of domestic abuse and sexual assault also applies in other forces.

She cites cultural problems in Gwent, Hampshire, Police Scotland, Sussex, Leicestershire "and more".

Cooper urges the home secretary to commit to automatically suspending an officer if they find themselves under investigation for domestic abuse or sexual assault.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper is now on her feet, responding to Suella Braverman's statement.

She says Casey's report is "thorough, forensic and truly damning" - then describes the home secretary's statement as "dangerously complacent".

"Astonishingly there is no new action set out in her response, simply words saying the Met must change."

She says this is a continuation of the "hands-off" Home Office response that Casey criticises in her report.

Braverman says that "discrimination must be tackled in all its forms," adding that she will be holding the Met and the mayor of London to account.

Braverman comments the officers who have come forward to give evidence. She acknowledges Casey's damning findings into the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in particular.

The home secretary says accountability now sits with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, to ensure "Londoners get the police service they deserve".

Braverman adds that we all depend on the police and it is vital that all officers maintain all the highest standards the public expects from them.

She closes by saying she has confidence in Met chief Sir Mark Rowley to deliver the necessary changes.

Suella Braverman says the Home Office is trying to free up frontline officers to focus on investigating crime, while making sure those in mental health crises get the right care from the right agencies.

It's vital that the law-abiding public don't face a threat from the police themselves, she says.

"Those that are not fit to wear the uniform must be prevented from doing so."

Home Secretary Suella Braverman says the report underlines the fact that the Met faces "a long road to recovery".

Braverman says it may take "years" to fully address some issues.

She goes on to say that her department will ensure the Met has all the support it needs from the government to deliver on Sir Mark Rowley's pledge to increase trust in policing.

She points out that the force has by far the highest funding per capita in England and Wales.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman begins by telling MPs: "I back the police."

She says many of us can never imagine the challenges they face, and references the murder of PC Keith Palmer, who was stabbed to death outside Parliament in 2017.

However, she says there have been a "series of abhorrent cases" involving police officers, with failures of leadership, culture and standards.

The report makes for "very concerning reading", she says.

James FitzGerald
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

There'll be much more public reaction to all of this, but for now, let's turn to Westminster.

We're expecting the home secretary to address the House of Commons any minute now, following the publication of Baroness Casey's blistering report into London's police force.

Suella Braverman, who is responsible for policing, earlier said there had been "systemic problems for far too long" in the Metropolitan Police.

Stay glued to this page for more updates - you can press the Play button at the top to watch her comments live.

A serving Met Police officer, who was also a victim of serial rapist officer David Carrick, has been giving her reaction to Baroness Casey's police report to the BBC.

Michelle (whose real identity cannot be disclosed because as a rape victim she has anonymity) says the Met is "not a pleasant place to work" and she struggles to listen to the criticism aimed at all staff.

She says she tries to keep "some degree of pride in my role", adding: "I joined the Met to help people, the same people that now, rightly so, don’t trust me."

• You can read more about Michelle's story here

Another of Eddie Nestor's interviewees on BBC Radio London is Ken Marsh, head of the Met Federation - which represents the capital's rank-and-file officers.

Responding to Baroness Casey's damning review into the police force, he says: "I feel embarrassed, let down, I feel for my colleagues who are trying to do the best job they can. I feel disgusted by the individuals who have brought us to this position and accept the report in full."

There follows a discussion on whether or not the force's issues with racism, homophobia and misogyny are "institutional" - a word the Met chief Sir Mark Rowley has disputed.

Asked if he accepts the word, Marsh says: "No I don't. My rank and file who are out there as we speak do not accept that that's them. There are some severe issues within the organisation, but I don't accept that it's every single man and woman in my organisation to be branded in that way.

"I am the only voice that my 30,000 colleagues have."

Nigel phones in to Eddie Nestor on BBC Radio London and criticises the Met Police chief.

"Mark Rowley should be ashamed of himself for not accepting the full language of the report," he says. (Rowley has accepted the findings of the report, but says he won't use the term "institutional" to describe the Met's failings.)

Nigel says: "This is not the first time the Met Police has been labelled as institutionally racist and corrupt."

He asks how it was possible that one officer was able to keep his job after being caught performing a sexual act on a train. He says: "The Met Police must be held to a higher account than you and I."

Nigel continues: "Mark Rowley has to realise you cannot allow police officers who've committed serious offences to continue serving."

BBC Radio London presenter Eddie Nestor has been speaking to Keith - a retired policeman who worked at Scotland Yard for roughly five years, around a decade ago.

Keith addresses "organisational, structural and command" issues in the force, and cites staffing pressures. He says sergeants end up "working the job of 25 people" and "really don't have the time" to address cases.

He suggests that a rank between constable and a sergeant should be created to relieve the workload.

Keith adds that he's "never worked with a more dedicated bunch of individuals". He says the report does not reflect the work of colleague in stopping potential terrorist attacks.

He explains: "Officers are out there morning, noon and night doing their best for Londoners, and they take the kicking for the officers that completely should not be in the job".

Victoria Bourne
BBC London

A woman who reported being raped to the Met Police has said the force is a "vile" and "abhorrent institution", which she doesn't think there is any chance of reforming.

Tashmia Owen - who waived her right to anonymity - was attacked by two people in 2020. She was then subjected to online harassment which she told the BBC was not taken seriously by the detective investigating her case. "He called me a liar," she recalled.

"He believed that the only way that this person would be harming me would be if they arrived at my home and they had proceeded to break all my limbs," she said.

Responding to the findings of the report, Owen said she was "not surprised" that racism, misogyny, and homophobia were at the heart of the force.

She added that if she had known how she would be treated she would not report what happened to her. "There is a reason why women don't speak up."

• Read more here

Gem O'Reilly
BBC News

Image source, Callum Baker

Campaign group Reclaim These Streets was created in 2021, when four women took legal action against the Met, claiming that their rights to freedom of speech had been breached in connection with their attempt to organise a vigil for Sarah Everard.

Jamie Klingler is one of the co-founders of the movement. She met Baroness Casey and was one of the people Casey interviewed.

I asked for her reaction to the report, external, and she described it as 350 pages of horror.

She addressed the revelation that rape cases had to be dropped after the breakdown of a Met freezer containing evidence. In another case, a lunchbox was found stored in a fridge. She said: "When domestic violence and violence against women are routinely put at the bottom of the pile, that's institutional.

Referring to the lost rape evidence, Klingler said: "The fact that a heatwave meant all of those case aren't able to go to court - what are we saying about trauma that women endure? It's insane."

I asked about what the review meant to her, more than two years on since Sarah Everard's death. She said: "I'm beyond grateful that this has been done. The physical volume is huge and it speaks volumes about the Met.

"But it doesn't bring Sarah back or stop the trauma women face. It vindicates the victims that come to me everyday and vindicates what we've been saying for years."

Klingler added: "Rape has been given a free pass for a really long time and hopefully this will be the beginning of the end for that. "

If you’re just joining us, let’s recap how we got here.

Baroness Casey was asked to look into the culture and standards of the Met after the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer in 2021.

This morning, her team has published a 360-page report cataloguing “severe institutional failings”:

• The report says there is “institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia” in the Met, with bullying “widespread”
• The force is “failing women and children”, with “overworked and inexperienced” officers handling rape cases and “major inadequacies” in child protection
• The Met is “unable to police itself” and predatory behaviour has been “allowed to flourish”
• Austerity has “profoundly” affected the force, with 126 police stations closed in recent years and frontline teams “over-stretched and under-supported”

As we mentioned earlier, BBC Radio London's Eddie Nestor is focusing on this policing story during today's show (something you're still able to tune into by pressing the Play button at the top of this page).

He kicks off with an interview with Met chief Sir Mark Rowley.

The commissioner is pressed on one of the key points from Baroness Louise Casey's report: "The Met under-protects and over-polices black Londoners".

Sir Mark responds: "Our relationship with black communities is problematic, and it's a long term problem that we haven't got right."

He adds that some black communities in London have the lowest trust in policing and groups he has spoken to across different boroughs have expressed "a sense of frustration and anger at police tactics in black communities".

"We are failing to protect, through our collective effort policing communities, and the tactics we are using aren't building trust," he says. "So we've got to come together, because we want the trust."

Image source, Getty Images

That previous entry from our home editor Mark Easton closes with a reference to policing by consent.

Baroness Casey’s report touches on why this concept - the idea that "the police are the public, the public are the police" – matters.

It says this derives from what are known as Peelian principles, named after Sir Robert Peel, the man who founded the Metropolitan Police nearly 200 years ago.

Under an ethical model of policing, officers serve as members of the public in uniform - and they exercise powers with the consent, approval, support and willing cooperation of other members of the public.

They maintain the order in society that the public want, and would otherwise have to maintain themselves.

But the report suggests: “Consent is not unconditional. It relies on the police operating with integrity and with accountability.”

Mark Easton
Home editor

The tone of Baroness Casey’s report is ferocious - very different from the measured, dispassionate and legalistic approach of most independent reports into public institutions.

Every chapter is filled with powerful quotes delivered in no-nonsense language.

Its intention is to leave no-one in any doubt as to what is wrong and what needs to happen.

The risk, however, is that the report itself makes it harder to achieve one of its recommendations - to recruit new officers who more closely resemble the population the force serves.

Certainly, in the short term, it is hard to imagine that a career in the Met is likely to be attractive to women, those from ethnic backgrounds or those from the LGBTQ+ community.

Morale is unlikely to be improved by this report - far from it.

With the government struggling to meet its promise to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers by the end of this month, the Met and forces across the country are under dark clouds.

Progress must be visible quickly, or the British principle of policing by consent will be under threat.