Dark day for the Met
Yesterday was a dark day for the Metropolitan Police. A report accused it of “a form of institutional corruption” for concealing or denying failings over the unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan in 1987.
It said that the Met’s first objective was to “protect itself” for refusing to acknowledge its many failings since Morgan’s murder in Sydenham. Despite five police inquiries and an inquest, no one has been brought to justice over the murder. Now, the Met has accepted corruption hampered the original investigation.
Commissioner Cressida Dick, who was criticised in the report for her refusal to allow a panel team to access the Holmes data system, is right to apologise.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretary is preparing to send the police watchdog to investigate claims of a cover-up culture in Scotland Yard. The Met needs to live up to its own aspirations and to fight corruption. Morgan’s family deserves justice.
New-look Circus
Oxford Street is set to be transformed into a pedestrian-friendly zone — stop us if you have heard this one before.
Under the plans, it will effectively be cut in two, with traffic stopping one block east and west of Oxford Circus and car traffic rerouting around a new piazza.
The developments are due to come in at the end of this year. Oxford Street doubles as both Europe’s busiest shopping street and a major artery for road traffic.
Changes to traffic flow will always be controversial and great care must be taken to ensure surrounding streets are not overwhelmed. But a reinvention of the Circus is an opportunity for a greener, smarter and more tourist-friendly West End.
This is exciting news which we hope will be ready for a post-pandemic capital.
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