A report by an independent panel said the force’s first objective was to “protect itself” for failing to acknowledge its many failings since Mr Morgan’s murder, the panel’s chairman Baroness Nuala O’Loan said.

Mr Morgan was killed with an axe in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, south-east London, on March 10, 1987.

Despite five police inquiries and an inquest, no-one has been brought to justice over the father-of-two’s death, with the Metropolitan Police admitting corruption had hampered the original murder investigation.

Alastair Morgan (right), the brother of murdered private investigator Daniel Morgan, with his partner Kirsteen Knight and family solicitor Raju Bhatt (centre) speaking to the media following the publication of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel report. Picture: PA

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The Met owes Mr Morgan’s family, and the public, an apology for not confronting its systemic failings and those of individual officers, the report said.

In a statement through their lawyer, the family of Mr Morgan said: “We welcome the recognition that we – and the public at large – have been failed over the decades by a culture of corruption and cover up in the Metropolitan Police, an institutionalised corruption that has permeated successive regimes in the Metropolitan Police and beyond to this day.”

The Independent Panel’s report, which runs to more than 1,200 pages, expressed concern that within the Met “a culture still exists that inhibits both organisational and individual accountability”.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has been criticised in a report into the unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan. Picture: PA

It found: “The family of Daniel Morgan suffered grievously as a consequence of the failure to bring his family to justice, the unwarranted assurances which they were given, the misinformation which was put into the public domain, and the denial of failings in investigation, including failing to acknowledge professional competence, individuals’ venal behaviour, and managerial and organisational failures.

“The Metropolitan Police also repeatedly failed to take a fresh, thorough and critical look at past failings.

“Concealing or denying failings, for the sake of the organisation’s public image, is dishonesty on the part of the organisation for reputational benefit and constitutes a form of institutional corruption.”

The initial investigation into Mr Morgan’s death was heavily criticised, with the murder scene not searched and left unguarded, and no alibis sought for all the suspects.

A later probe by Hampshire Police, brought in to investigate amid fears of corruption, was compromised when a senior Met officer was appointed to work with the team, the report said.

The current Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick was criticised for her refusal to allow the panel team access to the HOLMES police data system.

The report said: “The Metropolitan Police’s lack of candour manifested itself in the hurdles placed in the path of the Panel, such as [then Assistant Commissioner] Cressida Dick’s initial refusal to recognise the necessity for the Panel to have access to the HOLMES system.”

The brother of Daniel Morgan said Ms Dick should “absolutely” be considering her position in light of the report.

Alastair Morgan was asked whether Ms Dick should consider resigning.

He responded: “Absolutely she should.”

The family’s solicitor Raju Bhatt added: “You heard from the panel that the institutionalised corruption that they found is a current problem in the present tense.

“The current leadership in the Met has to take responsibility for that continuing.”

Downing Street later said Prime Minister Boris Johnson still had confidence in the Met Commissioner.

Met Police accused of 'institutional corruption' over Daniel Morgan case