The Conservative home secretary and Labour mayor of London were both left dissatisfied by the Metropolitan police commissioner’s justification for the handling of a vigil for Sarah Everard and have called for an independent investigation, they have said.
A day of dramatic developments saw Dame Cressida Dick’s future put into question after the vigil on London’s Clapham Common on Saturday evening descended into chaos and allegations of manhandling by police, triggering widespread criticism.
The commissioner gave a public statement saying she was not considering her position. “What has happened makes me more determined, not less, to lead my organisation,” she said.
It came after Priti Patel, the home secretary, demanded a report from the Met which was provided yesterday but left “questions to be answered”, a spokesperson said.
A Home Office source said: “By definition if she was satisfied, there would not be questions remaining.”
London’s mayor Sadiq Khan publicly rebuked the commissioner, who he helped to appoint in 2017 as the first woman to hold the role of Britain’s most senior police chief. Khan said he was “not satisfied” by Dick’s account of why officers clashed with women at the vigil and demanded two independent inquiries.
Dick said she had spoken to the home secretary and mayor and was “very comfortable” with the prospect of a review of how Saturday night’s vigil was policed, adding: “I think officers will be as well.” Khan said the scenes on Saturday night were unacceptable after he summoned Dick and her deputy, Sir Stephen House, to City Hall to explain themselves.
In a statement the Labour mayor said he had asked and received assurances from the Met last week that the vigil would be policed sensitively.
Khan, a former human rights lawyer, said this assurance had not been adhered to.
The rejection by the London mayor and home secretary of the Met’s justifications left the commissioner fighting for her job, with just over a year of her five-year term remaining.
In a statement the Home Office said: “The home secretary has read the report provided by the Metropolitan police and feels there are still questions to be answered. In the interests of ensuring public confidence in the police,  the home secretary asked Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to conduct a lessons learned review into the policing of the event at Clapham Common.”
The London mayor went further. In his statement, Khan said: “The scenes arising from the policing of the vigil for Sarah Everard held on Clapham Common on Saturday night were completely unacceptable. My thoughts remain with Sarah’s family at this awful time.
“Last week I called on the government and police to work with the organisers of the vigil to clarify the law and find a way for it to take place legally and safely. On Friday a high court judge made clear there was a window to agree a way for a vigil to go ahead safely. I received assurances from the Metropolitan police last week that the vigil would be policed sensitively. In my view, this was not the case. 
“I asked the commissioner and deputy commissioner to come into City Hall yesterday to give me an explanation of yesterday’s events and the days leading up to them. I am not satisfied with the explanation they have provided.
“I will now be asking Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to conduct a full independent investigation of events on Saturday evening and in previous days. I am also asking the Independent Office for Police Conduct to investigate the actions of police officers .”
He added: “It is vital that these events are not allowed to undermine the powerful calls since Sarah’s (alleged) murder for meaningful action to finally stop men inflicting violence on women. It was clear that there isn’t adequate trust and confidence from women and girls in the police and criminal justice system more widely. Further steps must now be taken to address this.”
The statement does not address the issue of whether the mayor has full confidence in the commissioner he helped appoint in 2017 as the first woman to lead the UK’s biggest force.
A source said the talks between the police chiefs and London mayor were “frank, forthright and respectful”. While police are operationally independent, the London mayor has oversight of Britain’s biggest force. 
Sources said Patel was “personally upset” by images of women being grabbed by police at the candlelit vigil, which the Duchess of Cambridge had visited earlier on Saturday.