A London-wide manhunt is currently underway for a terror suspect, and Met Commissioner Mark Rowley took it as the perfect opportunity to admit plans to dodge scrutiny from elected representatives. Speaking to the Greater London Authority, Rowley said “I do question the amount of these appearances”, referring to their regular Q&A sessions. Rowley’s excuse is that his time for scrutiny will be taken up by for the new policing board – comprised of Sadiq and his bureaucratic appointees. The commissioner said:

“I do question the amount of these appearances, in terms of the Q&A sessions… and so we’re going to need to look at that balance as we see the final details of the frequency of meetings et cetera. But it may well mean end up in fewer of these appearances from myself and the senior team”

He’s looking for a get out jail free card…

In response, one Senior London assembly member didn’t hold back:

“Democratic oversight of the Met Police died before our eyes… Senior Met officers have been scrutinised every fortnight of the year by the Assembly with a monthly public meeting with the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner. My confidence in the Met, like many Londoners, has died.”

Careful. Wouldn’t want to give the Met another case of “threatening and abusive words” to investigate.

Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley has just told the London Assembly his force will be poring through CCTV footage and photo evidence as part of their new probe into Bernard Jenkin’s lockdown drinks party in 2020. They’ll also be quizzing the partygoers. He pointed out just how many fines were issued last time…

“We’ve decided we are going to go forward with investigations, and so that will follow the same course as last time. We’ll collect all the evidence we can do, the CCTV, photos, et cetera. It will probably involve statements and questionnaires, and we’ll work our way through. And we’ll come to whatever the right judgements are in terms of tickets or prosecutions if necessary. As you’ll recall, the previous investigations… led to eighty-something people receiving tickets and fixed penalty notices.”

Ello, ello, ello…

Just Stop Oil protesters are throwing their toys out of the pram this morning after the police actually – finally – did their job. The footage above shows Metropolitan Police officers dragging the protesters off the road outside Parliament, citing a Section 12 notice as cause to stop the lunatics blocking traffic. A welcome turn, although why hasn’t this happened sooner? Met Chief Sir Mark Rowley was effectively defending the force’s inaction on these protesters just last week – clearly it is within the police’s remit to stop them more often…

An explosive bust-up in the Home Affairs Committee this morning, as Red Wall Rottweiler Lee Anderson clashed with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley over the Met’s handling of eco-protesters. Somebody ring 999…

A furious Rowley accused Anderson of “making selective comments” over the Met’s failure to do anything about protesters repeatedly blocking the roads:

“You’re making selective comments based on a partial understanding of the law. I do not want Londoners disrupted any more than anybody else does. But the law is very clear that protest is disruptive, and to a certain extent, that is allowed… you may not like that, but I have to work to the law rather than win.”

“To a certain extent” is doing some heavy lifting in that comment…

Lee immediately bit back by telling Rowley he hadn’t done his job properly and was wasting his time:

“I think you might want to believe that you’re doing your job correctly, Commissioner, but I don’t think you are… I feel like I’m wasting my time with you to be honest. You say you took five years out of the force. There’s probably people listening to this today who wish it was a lot longer, and I’m one of them. Do you think you’ve got the confidence of the public?”

Rowley claimed he wouldn’t comment on that last “personally offensive” question. He does have the right to remain silent, after all…