Why Philip Allott must resign as North Yorkshire crime chief over Sarah Everard response – The Yorkshire Post says
His insensitive assertion that Sarah Everard, whose family come from York, “never should have submitted” to her “arrest” by Pc Wayne Couzens, the monster who abducted, raped and murdered the 33-year-old, alienated virtually every single woman as the Bishop of Ripon led countless calls for his resignation.
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Hide AdIt also embarrassed voters and left police officers in despair. But what is equally galling is that North Yorkshire – and policing per se – will remain lumbered with Mr Allott for a further four years unless he steps down of his own accord.
For, while Boris Johnson is said to be “outraged”, Tory chair Oliver Dowden said time will tell if North Yorkshire’s commissioner does eventually seek re-election.
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Hide AdAnd that is because “recall” powers – where the public can force by-elections against errant MPs if a certain threshold is met by voters – do not apply to crime commissioners.
Though debated in Parliament in 2014 after Shaun Wright resigned in South Yorkshire, the legislation fell by the wayside and it is perfectly possible for Mr Allott to stay in office unless his local crime panel, headed by North Yorkshire County Council leader Carl Les, persuades him to resign before he becomes a greater liability to himself and the area he purports to serve.
As such, this newspaper’s fervent hope is that Mr Allott does the right thing and quits because, frankly, his remarks, and brazen lack of humility in his statement yesterday, means he will never command sufficient confidence to carry out his duties – not least to women and girls – as he is so clearly incapable of understanding the problem, let alone able to come up with any solutions.
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