Sadiq Khan ‘summonsed’ for grilling over Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick’s sacking

Sadiq Khan has been summonsed to answer questions over the sacking of former Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick by a City Hall committee.

The mayor of London has become the first sitting mayor to be formally summonsed, after the publication of Sir Tom Winsor’s report into issues around the commissioner’s departure.

Last month, the report found Mr Khan had “breached due process” and committed an “abuse of the power conferred upon him”, after the commissioner was “intimidated” into quitting.

Susan Hall, leader of the City Hall Conservatives, said: “The Winsor review raised important questions about the circumstances under which the former Met commissioner stood down.

“The committee has statutory powers to summons the mayor - which we used for the first time today.”

At a City Hall meeting today (Thursday, September 29), the London Assembly police and crime committee voted to invoke its unique summons power for the first time.

Committee members agreed to formally summons the mayor for questioning - and he could face a fine or three months in prison if he fails to attend to answer questions on the matter.

The committee voted 5-4 in favour of the motion, which compels Mr Khan to attend the committee at 10am on Wednesday, November 16.

Sir Tom Winsor and former home secretary Priti Patel have also been invited to attend.

The power comes under Section 33 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.

The Winsor report found Sadiq Khan “failed to respect the dignity of the commissioner as an individual, and as the holder of high public office”.

Ms Hall, who is chairman of the committee, added: “We believe, given the seriousness of the review’s findings, the mayor needs to address unanswered questions that have emerged.

“The public will rightly want to know what happened and what lessons need to be learned for the future.”

According to the report, Dame Cressida Dick faced “political pressure” to resign “outside the established statutory procedure,” and this was a “classic instance of constructive dismissal.”

In doing so, the mayor committed “an abuse of the power conferred upon him.”

And Sir Tom said “to be given under an hour to decide whether to resign or to challenge the mayor’s position was entirely unacceptable.”

The report also proposed a series of reforms to the Home Office, including boosting the London Assembly’s powers, to ensure this does not happen again.

A spokesperson for the mayor of London said: “The mayor’s focus is on working with the new reforming commissioner to build a safer London for everyone, rebuild trust and confidence in the police and support Sir Mark to drive through the urgent reforms and step change in culture and performance Londoners deserve.

“Londoners elected the mayor to hold the Met commissioner to account and that’s exactly what he has done.

“The mayor makes no apology for demanding better for London and putting its interests first.”