The Metropolitan Police Service is investigating a tweet sent from one of its own accounts after it criticised the Mayor of London.
In a post that has now been deleted, the Met Police Taskforce account appeared to agree with a journalist’s suggestion that Sadiq Khan “doesn’t understand” disciplinary procedures at the force.
The Taskforce replied: “Exactly this.”
The row comes amid heightened tensions between the mayor and the Met following Dick’s dramatic decision to resign last week.
In her statement, Dick said she had been left with “no choice” but to resign after Khan made it clear he did not believe in her proposals to restore public confidence in the force following a series of scandals.
The London mayor said he had been “angered and disgusted” by the findings of an investigation which uncovered that officers at Charing Cross station had joked about about rape, domestic violence, the Holocaust and killing black children.
According to the Times, Khan issued Dick with an ultimatum to either sack the officers in question or face a suspension herself — a charge the mayor has denied.
The newspaper said she handed in her notice because she could not agree to the request, outlining that disciplinary action was an independent process.
But Khan denied the report on Thursday and hit out at the Taskforce’s now-deleted tweet.
He told LBC: “I say with respect to the chair of the police federation and to the person responsible for that Met Police official account amplifying misleading information — are you making it easier or harder for officers who witness this to come forward?
“Are you making it more likely or less likely that Londoners will have their trust and confidence restored in the police service?
“And it is a police service that we admire, but there are deep cultural issues where you have got a situation where, overtly, people are using this sort of language.”
Giving his account of how Dick’s resignation unfolded, Khan said: “The commissioner wrote to me last Friday.
“I thought we would continue the conversation because those plans in that letter weren’t enough. Then before we could meet last Thursday, the commissioner resigned.”
A Met Police spokesperson said: “This tweet was unacceptable and shouldn’t have been shared from a Metropolitan Police account.
“Senior officers are addressing the matter and will be reminding officers that they are expected to be independent and impartial at all times, on and off duty, including on social media.”