Ed Davey accuses Met of 'undermining public trust' as Lisa Nandy urges Prime Minister to 'come clean'

Sir Ed Davey has accused the Met of “undermining public trust” as Lisa Nandy urged the Prime Minister to “come clean” over the lockdown parties.

The Lib Dem leader said people have to “trust the police” despite previously using the term “stitch-up” in reference to the force asking that Sue Gray’s report publishes limited details.

It comes as Labour’s shadow levelling up secretary Ms Nandy demanded an explanation from Boris Johnson.

Appearing on BBC’s Sunday Morning show, Sir Ed was asked about a tweet claiming a “stitch-up between the Met leadership and Number 10 will damage our politics for generations and it looks like it is happening right in front of our eyes.”

Sir Ed Davy accused the Met of undermining public trust

He said: “I always wanted the Met to investigate but what I didn’t want, what I don’t think anybody wanted, was to make such a hash of it – changing their position so many times, which, of course, makes people concerned.

“We all expect the police to do their job properly and I really hope that that is what happened.

“It might be incompetence, it might be just a cock-up, they may have just got it completely wrong and, in that case, it is bad enough.

On whether he trusts the police to get to the truth, he said: “I do trust the police but what I want to make sure is that they explain themselves fully,” before adding that their communication has been “shocking”.

He added: “I have huge respect for rank-and-file police officers who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.

“For them to do their job, the public have to have trust and confidence in them.

“But the way the Met has handled this, I think, is undermining that.”

Sir Ed Davey also accused the Government of “doing nothing” over the energy crisis because they were trying to save the Prime Minister.He added: “The problem with the Prime Minister is because he has lied and broken the rules, and is completely focused on saving his own skin, he is not taking the action.

It came as Ms Nandy claimed the reason we needed the Sue Gray report was because “he Prime Minister won’t come clean on what has been going on in Downing Street and his involvement in it.”

She continued: “We could sort all of this out without him having to hide behind a civil servant or the Met Police, he could just come clean, but since he won’t come clean we believe that the most important thing is to get that report out in full.

“There are a lot of bereaved families, there are a lot people who made huge sacrifices who deserve to hear the truth from the Prime Minister and if he won’t put an end to this circus and this stasis in Government, when people are dealing with huge issues around the country, cost-of-living crisis, levelling-up plans stalled, if he won’t do it, then that report has to come out in full, so that people can judge for themselves.”The Sue Gray report is expected to be published next week.