By Mandu Reid

After Sarah Everard’s murder, I listened at vigils across London as women shared stories of fear, anger, and disbelief, aware of the danger posed by institutions that promised to keep us safe.

The Illusion of Reform

The police, whose job is to protect the public, had protected themselves instead.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s “bad apple” defence became a familiar reflex. During my years as leader of the Women’s Equality Party, I led campaigns calling for a radical overhaul of policing in Britain that denies, minimises, deflects, and protects the institution at all costs.

It took 18 years from the Scarman Report in 1981 to the Macpherson Report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence to call out the institutional racism faced by Black communities. Last month’s BBC Panorama investigation into Charing Cross police station exposed the same rot: officers filmed calling for immigrants to be shot, mocking rape victims, and trading racist, misogynistic jokes.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner admitted that prejudice has “put down deep roots.” This confirmed that denial, not ignorance, is the force’s default........

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