According to the source, the Home Secretary added that the Met "is absolutely the worst" of Britain's police forces. The Sunday Times reported that a Home Office source claimed Ms Patel maintains the Met have a culture of "defensiveness". The source said: "We have lost count of the number of conversations she had with Cressida and Steve House the deputy commissioner.

       "They are not interested.

       "It is institutional.

       "They are very defensive.

       "Policing is very defensive.

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       "The Met are absolutely the worst.'

       It has been reported that the Home Secretary Ms Patel has clashed numerously with the Met's Cressida Dick.

       Dame Cressida, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, has come under criticism for the Met's handling of protests in the wake of Sarah Everard's disappearance in March 2021.

       London's police have been accused of being heavy-handed of a vigil in Ms Everard's memory.

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       Ms Patel is said to regard Dame Cressida as being "tin-eared" over the murder of Ms Everard.

       The source added that the Home Secretary is now said to be determined to watch Dame Cressida "very closely" over the vetting of police officers.

       Ms Patel is also reported to have become frustrated that the commissioner allegedly ignored inquiries that she tried to make on behalf of Ms Everard's parents in March 2021.

       Ms Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, was murdered by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens.

       Ms Everard was assaulted and murdered by Mr Couzens after she went missing while walking from a friend's home near Clapham Common, south London, on March 3.

       Her body was found in woodland near Ashford, Kent, on March 9.

       A spokesman for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "The murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer has severely damaged trust in the police."