The footage, gathered undercover for a BBC Panorama documentary, appears to show some officers at a central London police station call for immigrants to be shot and brag about using violence against suspects
The Prime Minister has described the behaviour of Metropolitan Police officers who were secretly filmed making racist and sexist comments as “shocking”. The footage, gathered undercover for a BBC Panorama documentary, appears to show some officers at a central London police station call for immigrants to be shot and brag about using violence against suspects.
Reacting to the documentary, Sir Keir Starmer said: “I’ve not yet seen the footage, but I’ve had it described to me, and it’s shocking, and I’m glad the commissioner is responding. He needs to be very robust in his response.”
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said people in London can trust the “vast majority” of the force’s officers, adding he was “horrified” by the documentary. He told LBC on Thursday: “We completely get that you’re going to be upset and angry when you watch this, and it’s going to cause you to question your trust in the Metropolitan Police.
“You can be rest assured that we are relentless in rooting out these characters. You can trust the vast majority of great men and women who are out there to protect you and serve.
“It’s those men and women who are building more trust and more confidence from the people of London, and we will continue doing that because we’re all equally passionate about our vocation, and we’re all as horrified as you are as a member of the public by what we saw last night.”
Nine serving and one former officer, and one designated detention officer who is a civilian member of staff, are all under investigation for gross misconduct by watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Allegations include excessive use of force, making discriminatory and misogynistic comments, and failing to report or challenge inappropriate behaviour. One constable is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly perverting the course of justice.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the footage was “disturbing” and “sickening” – adding that she expects police chiefs to use their powers to sack anyone guilty of gross misconduct.
She said: “The disturbing scenes in this footage are sickening. It is right that the Metropolitan Police have condemned this, and we fully support their pledge to root out those unfit to serve the public. I know this is a top priority for the commissioner.
“We have given police chiefs the powers to automatically sack officers who fail background checks and dismiss those guilty of gross misconduct, and we expect them to be used.” The footage shows one officer, Pc Phil Neilson, referring to an immigrant who had overstayed his visa while off-duty, saying: “Either put a bullet through his head or deport him. And the ones that shag women, rape women, you do the cock and let them bleed out.”
While drinking at a pub off-duty, he also tells undercover reporter Rory Bibb that Algerians and Somalians are “scum”, and makes reference to there being an invasion of the UK by migrants. Another officer, Pc Martin Borg, brags about a colleague stamping on a detainee’s leg, and laughs about the suspect screaming.
He also appears to say he offered to fill in a false witness statement about the incident. Sir Mark apologised for the officers’ behaviour and pledged any wrongdoers will be sacked within weeks.
Speaking to LBC, he said the behaviour of officers was “ghastly” and “reprehensible”. He said: “It’s ghastly, it’s reprehensible. Clearly there’s racism in there, there’s misogyny, there’s clearly relishing in using excess force.”
The Met commissioner added: “Frankly some of the content from last night on its own, in my mind, would be enough to bring officers to fast-track misconduct hearings.” Policing minister Sarah Jones said the Panorama programme was “particularly devastating” given the work that has gone on to “root out this kind of behaviour”.
She said: “I think after the Louise Casey review, after the murder of Sarah Everard, which was a very damning review, the Met took a lot of different actions to ensure that they were rooting out officers who shouldn’t be in the force. We are putting in place at a national level new standards in terms of vetting and misconduct, and we need to make sure that as the vast majority of our officers are, we have good officers who should be in the job.
“Obviously, last night’s programme was particularly devastating given the work that I know has gone on to root out this kind of behaviour.” Ms Jones added she was “reassured” that there were officers who reported some of the behaviours.
She said there has been a lot of work done after the Casey review, but added: “This clearly shows that we still have huge challenges and problems that we need to make sure we overcome”. Previous, separate allegations around the same police station cost his predecessor Dame Cressida Dick her job.
She resigned after London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said he no longer had confidence in her leadership. That scandal focused around messages exchanged by officers between 2016 and 2018, which were so offensive much of the content was unprintable.
Sir Mark has been backed by Sir Sadiq, who said he has confidence in the commissioner’s efforts to kick wrongdoers out of the Met, and that he is “disgusted and appalled” by the alleged behaviour. The alleged incidents are said to have occurred while those said to have been involved were both on and off duty between August 2024 and January 2025.
The entire custody team at Charing Cross has been disbanded and moved elsewhere in the wake of the allegations.
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