the times | Friday May 27 2022 19
News
JONATHAN BRADY/PALord Hogan-Howe, the former Metro-
politan Police commissioner, was ap-
proached by No 10 officials to apply for
the top job at the National Crime Agen-
cy, The Times has been told.
The revelation will stoke the row over
cronyism that surrounds the vacancy
for director-general, with two leading
candidates rejected because Boris
Johnson was unhappy that Hogan-
Howe was overlooked for interview.
The reopening of the recruitment
process prompted concerns that No 10
tried to subvert an independent pro-
cedure. There is speculation that it is
being restarted simply for Hogan-
Howe, 64, to be given the job.
Hogan-Howe, the Met commission-
er from 2011-17, worked with Johnson
when he was London mayor. He en-
dorsed Johnson in the Conservative
leadership campaign.
Sources claimed that Hogan-Howe
applied for the NCA job after he was
approached by No 10, although who
was involved is unknown.
A police source said: “I don’t think
anybody was in any doubt that No 10
wanted Bernard [Hogan-Howe] to ap-
ply. Whether they are directly respon-
sible for what has happened is unclear.
But it appears that the PM wants his
own man in place.”
Neil Basu, a Met assistant commis-
sioner, and Graeme Biggar, the interim
director-general at the NCA, had final
interviews with Priti Patel, the home
secretary, after five months. They were
told last week that the process was
being reopened. Basu is expected to
drop out of the process and is consider-
ing a formal complaint.
Patel will make the appointment and
while Johnson will be asked for his view,
he has no formal role in the matter.
The possible appointment of Hogan-
No 10 asked Met’s
former chief to
apply for top role
Howe to a prestigious law enforcement
role angered victims of Operation Mid-
land, the disastrous Met abuse inquiry
he oversaw. Hogan-Howe apologised
after the reputations of public figures
were traduced when detectives be-
lieved false claims of a VIP abuse ring.
Lady Brittan, the widow of Lord Brit-
tan, the former home secretary, whose
home was raided when he was falsely
accused, said there was “little evidence”
Hogan-Howe was a suitable candidate.
Harvey Proctor, the former Tory MP
who was also falsely accused, wrote to
Johnson urging him not to appoint
Hogan-Howe and said his loyalty had
already been repaid “tenfold”.
Despite the scandal Hogan-Howe
received a peerage on leaving the Met
and landed plum government appoint-
ments. He has been paid £15,000 a year
for 15 to 20 days of work at the Cabinet
Office, advising on the pandemic and
the Brexit transition, and was appoint-
ed by Patel to investigate the accidental
deletion of hundreds of thousands of
police records by the Home Office.
He is also paid for his role as an advis-
er to the Home Office on its emergency
services network programme.
No 10 did not deny approaching
Hogan-Howe.
A Home Office official said: “A fair
and open recruitment campaign is
under way to make the best possible
appointment to this vital role. Recent
events have demonstrated how pivotal
the NCA is in protecting the public
from organised crime and national
security threats. This process will
ensure that we get the best possible
candidate as the new director-general
to provide the leadership and experi-
ence to take this work forward.”
Hogan-Howe did not respond to
requests for comment.
Not a suitable person to head the crime
agency, leading article, page 29Fiona Hamilton Crime Editor
Naked attraction Yves Klein’s Anthropometrie De L’Époque Bleue (ANT 124) is on auction at Christie’s, London, next monthBlack police commissioner
stopped six times by officers
Britain’s only black police chief told
how he had been stopped and searched
by officers six times in the past, despite
never having broken the law.
Festus Akinbusoye, elected police
and crime commissioner for Bedford-
shire in May last year, was asked by one
suspicious policeman: “What are you
doing round here?” On another
occasion he was told he matched the
description of a suspect.
Akinbusoye mentioned the incidents
yesterday as he welcomed the new race
action plan from the National Police
Chiefs’ Council. He said: “I bring my
own lived experiences into this role, of
growing up as a young black man in
London, and now as a parent to three
black teenagers in Bedfordshire.
“It is sadly still the case that
people from our black communities
face poorer experiences with
policing and the wider crimi-
nal justice system overall.
“The poor experience and
disproportionality that
affects black people is
found across the spec-
trum of interactions with
the police, including stop and search,
use of force, victim care and court
sentencing. Within policing, black
people’s experiences of recruitment,
retention, promotion and conduct
issues are more negative than for their
white colleagues.
“The data is indisputable, and despite
the Macpherson report of nearly three
decades ago, not nearly enough has
been done by those in police leadership
nationally or locally to improve these
very long-standing issues. But I am
reassured by the work that has gone
into the race action plan and the com-
mitment from chief constables and the
College of Policing to its delivery. I am
assured that tangible change is
coming. I am pleased that having
acknowledged and accepted these
longstanding issues still exist, police
leadership is facing up to the
need to ensure we need to
do more.”
Officers in England
and Wales will receive
anti-racism training
under the race action
plan, which will be
put out for public
scrutiny before it is
updated in December.Festus Akinbusoye says
tangible change is coming