It seems that fence sitter Starmer seems to forget his own words. According to Guido he’s popped to criticise the government over the crumbling state of the Metropolitan Police, however Sir Keir seems to have forgotten that in the past he’s publicly backed the Commissioner who presided over the nosedive in public confidence in the police, Dame Cressida Dick.

Guido said:

Baroness Casey’s report into the Metropolitan Police undoubtedly makes for grim reading. Clearly, as Keir Starmer points out this morning, the force needs urgent reform, and “the scale of change required is vast“. He also takes the opportunity to attack Suella Braverman and the Home Office for 13 years of “a void of leadership”. Who led the Metropolitan police from 2017 to 2022, when trust in the police nosedived according to Casey’s report? Cressida Dick.

This would be the same Cressida Dick who, after the full scale of the Force’s failure over Sarah Everard’s murder was revealed, still enjoyed Sir Keir’s support right up to the end of 2021. In October of that year, Starmer appeared on Good Morning Britain to back her as Met Commissioner:“I’ve worked with Cressida over many years in relation to some very serious operations when I was Director of Public Prosecutions, and I was pleased that her contract was extended and I support her.”

Guido also reports that Sir Keir Starmer is also keeping very quiet about one particular aspect of the Met Police’s gargantuan failure and that is the involvement of London’s Police and Crime Commissioner, which in London’s case is the Mayor Sadiq Khan. This is not only a bit awkward and embarrassing for Sir Keir but doesn’t really inspire confidence in either his party or his leadership.