Cressida Dick’s Brexit warning: Met Police chief said public could be ‘at risk’ if no deal

Dame Cressida resigned as Metropolitan Police Commissioner today after failing to win Sadiq Khan’s support. The London Mayor said he was “not satisfied” with the capital’s police chief and said the Met needed “new leadership right at the top”. Dame Cressida said she had been given “no choice” but to step down and that it was “with great sadness” she was leaving the role.

The outgoing Commissioner, who has 40 years’ experience in the police, is leaving after a string of scandals, which have engulfed London’s police force.

Politicians and campaigners blasted the Met in March last year over officers’ heavy-handed tactics at the vigil for Sarah Everard, who was murdered by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens.

This month the police watchdog found evidence of racism, misogyny and harassment among Scotland Yard officers.

Despite the intense pressure on Dame Cressida to go, she refused to resign as recently as yesterday.

While Mr Khan has recently called for major reforms at the Met, Dame Cressida previously issued her own warning about the force’s future amid uncertainty caused by Brexit.

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In a throwback interview with BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme in 2018, the police chief claimed that if the UK crashed out of the EU without a deal, the public could be put “at risk”.

She said: “We will have to replace some of the things we currently use in terms of access to databases.

“The way in which we can quickly extradite and arrest people.

“[We will] have to replace them as effectively as we can, but it will be more costly, slower and potentially put [the] public at risk.

“There is no doubt about that. This is one of many things politicians deciding what to do need to be thinking about.”

“The consequences of not having those things, and if there was [a] no-deal scenario, would be difficult in the short term.”

During her BBC interview, the police chief was pressed on whether she thought there was enough time to replace policing tools that may be compromised by Brexit.

She said: “We can talk about what might happen, but of course while there are so many unknowns, nothing can be put in place.

“But we can talk with colleagues, and we are doing that all the time.”

As Dame Cressida prepares to leave the Met, Mr Khan will now work with Home Secretary Priti Patel to find a replacement.

In her resignation statement, the outgoing police chief referred to specific failures during her tenure leading the force.

She said: “The murder of Sarah Everard and many other awful cases recently have, I know, damaged confidence in this fantastic police service.”

She added: “There is much to do – and I know that the Met has turned its full attention to rebuilding public trust and confidence.”