The former Met Police detective now exposing both Sir Mark Rowley and Sir Sadiq Khan… Her name is Bernadette Murray and she served in the force for 32 years. Unlike a lot of detectives, Murray specialised in one specific field: child safeguarding. In fact, she was considered the go to. Now in the mid-2010s, she noticed a pattern. One with devastating consequences. Vital reports on child abuse were being systematically ignored due to poor record keeping. It’s a disease that has come to infect so many forces up and down the country. In one case, Murray recalls a 10-year-old girl who was put in the care of a man described as a ‘pimp’. That same man had also assaulted both the child and her mum. The thing is, when she raised concerns around 2017 with the Met hierarchy and Mayor Sadiq Khan, they appeared receptive. She was clear: the Met had all the tools they needed. They just weren’t properly accessing and using them. But fast forward a few years… Not only are the same issues persisting but, by Murray’s estimates, they’re getting worse. Neither Khan nor Rowley have implemented the changes Murray pushed for. Something that becomes even more bizarre when you realise they employed Murray as a consultant to help fix the problem, and preceded to ignored her advice. In other words, after three long terms, Khan is still failing to meet his duties as a mayor: ensuring the Met operate competently and meeting basic standards for child protection. In response to recent questions about secret grooming gangs still operating in London a few weeks ago the Met said: “We are working to improve the quality of data we hold to ensure it is sufficiently comprehensive to enable us to make a definitive assessment about the issue.”

Posted by Fred Bassett