Neil Basu will step down as the next leader of the National Crime Agency and is considering an official complaint after Downing Street allegedly intervened to stop the selection process.
An expert group assessed that Basu, the favorite and former head of the fight against terrorism, and Graeme Biggar, the acting director general of the ANC, were qualified enough to be appointed to the high-level post.
Both were told last Friday by Matthew Rycroft, the permanent secretary of the Home Office, that they would not be elected. Instead, the process of finding an ANC director general would be restarted and re-applied.
None of the applicants received any reason, either verbally from Rycroft or in letters sent to both of them this week confirming the decision.
A Whitehall source confirmed claims that the selection process was halted because Downing Street intervened and favored Bernard Hogan-Howe, the former Met commissioner and a vocal supporter of Boris Johnson.
The government has now effectively blocked or deterred Basu, who is of Asian descent, from the two main law enforcement jobs. He would have been the first Briton of an ethnic minority to maintain it. He did not request the Met commission after Cressida Dick’s resignation in February, as the government’s opposition was so clear.
Senior police leaders are horrified by developments and allegations of political interference, and one describes them as “outrageous”. NCA experts are concerned about the delay and uncertainty in the appointment of the director general, who is considered to be the second highest-ranking official in UK law enforcement.
The leader of the National Black Police Association criticized Basu’s blockade, saying his appointment would have been a “beacon of hope”, and a labor lawyer said the government could have opened up to legal issues. .
Basu, Hogan-Howe, Biggar and two others were interviewed by a five-person expert group.
Alongside Rycroft, he included MI5 CEO Ken McCallum and home office adviser Michael Fuller, the only black Briton to ever reach the rank of police chief.
The main job of the NCA is a senior public office equivalent to that of a permanent secretary. The Interior Ministry has confirmed that it will now be announced again.
The process came to a halt at such a late stage that both candidates had completed their “by the fire” talks with Home Secretary Priti Patel in the final stage before making an appointment.
Government sources have also said they did not want Basu to apply for the Met commission, and that Dick’s contract was extended last September because they feared Basu would be the favorite to take over.
Basu, a deputy commissioner of the Met, is seen by some as a very effective senior officer. But it has upset the government by talking about issues such as race. He favored positive discrimination to increase the number of ethnic minority officers.
In 2019, he also told the Guardian that someone who had made similar comments about his career as prime minister could not be recruited for the police. Some of the number 10 took this as Basu calling the prime minister racist and have not forgiven him.
Andy George, president of the National Black Police Association, said Basu’s appointment “would have been a beacon of hope”.
He added: “Neil Basu took the brave step of talking about positive discrimination to make the police more representative. As a result, he has been prevented from taking two of the top two positions and that is disappointing.”
Employment lawyer Mukhtiar Singh said senior government officials could have had legal issues: “If I were a government lawyer I would be deeply concerned.
“An employer does not help himself when he gives no reason and it may be enough to draw an inference from discrimination. It sounds like bad governance. “
The Interior Ministry did not respond to direct questions, but did not deny that the two candidates selected by the court had been denied the job and that no reason had been given. deny stopping the process following the Downing Street intervention.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said: “A fair and open recruitment campaign is underway to make the best possible appointment for this vital role.
“Recent events have shown how crucial the NCA is in protecting the public from organized crime and threats to national security. This process will ensure that we get the best possible candidate as the new CEO to provide leadership and experience. carry out this work “.
Hogan-Howe was commissioner of the Met between 2011 and 2017. He was considered a widespread success, except for the disastrous investigation into an alleged pedophile in the establishment and a network of murders launched by a man who he was later imprisoned for perverting the course of justice. A report clarified Hogan-Howe, but relatives and one of the wrong target of Operation Midland this week demanded that Hogan-Howe be denied the role of NCA.