Panorama’s ‘Undercover in the Police’ investigation has exposed what communities have long known: the Metropolitan Police Service has failed to change.
The BBC documentary revealed an ongoing rampant culture of racism, misogyny, and Islamophobia in the Charing Cross police station, the same station that was investigated under Operation Hotton three years ago.
Despite repeated inquiries, the Casey Review, and public commitments to reform, Panorama shows that little has changed. Unacceptable conduct persists under the same leadership, undermining trust and confidence in policing among Black, Muslim, and ethnic minority communities across London.
Staffing remains to be an issue within the Met, with Panorama highlighting some officers who uphold decent values and provide a service for everyone but struggle to challenge senior leaders due to a toxic culture and working environment. As a result, young Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage young people will continue to be deterred from joining the Met Police, and the force will never reflect London’s ethnic diversity until meaningful change occurs.
Current equalities legislation, including the Public Sector Equality Duty, are not enough to tackle the Met’s deep-rooted problems, and programmes like the Police Race Action Plan will have little effect until the Met commits to the urgent, systemic reforms it has long avoided.
We are clear: the Met cannot reform itself. Without stronger equalities legislation, independent oversight, political accountability, and the courage to name institutional racism, promises of change will continue to ring hollow. Public trust in policing is already at crisis point, and the stakes for our communities could not be higher.
The cycle of scandal, reviews, broken promises of reform, and failure to change must end.
- Jeremy Crook OBE, Chief Executive, Action for Race Equality
- Timi Okuwa, CEO, Black Equity Organisation
- Yvonne Field OBE, CEO, The Ubele Initiative
- Saba Ali, Safety & Met Liaison Manager, UK Black Pride
- Louise King, Co-lead, Just for Kids Law (including the Children’s Rights Alliance for England)
- Sammy Odoi, Managing Director, Wipers Youth CIC
- Lorna Shaw, Chief Executive, Birmingham Race Impact Group (BRIG)
- Aliyah Ali, Founder & CEO, The Daddyless Daughters Project CIC
- Jayde Allen, Founder and Director, Khadys Dream
- Gloria Morrison, Campaign Coordinator, JENGbA
- Paul Anderson, CEO, Voyage Youth Hackney
- Josh Stunell, CEO, bthechange CIC
- Yvonne MacNamara, CEO, The Traveller Movement
- David Weaver, Chair, Operation Black Vote
- Ghadah Alnasseri, Executive Director, Imkaan
- Abimbola Johnson, Chair, Independent Scrutiny & Oversight Board – Police Race Action Plan
- Elizaveta Strelnikova, Specialist Policy Officer, Clinks
- Cllr Chantelle Lunt, Mayor & Chair of Halewood Town Council
- Lee Jasper, Chair, Alliance for Police Accountability
For more information, please contact, Head of Policy, Meka Beresford
