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9 Aug 2020

Labour MP Dawn Butler says Met Police ‘systematically racist’ – after stopped by police in London

Special Correspondent and Presenter

The Labour MP Dawn Butler was stopped by the police this afternoon while she was in a car driving through Hackney in East London – and she recorded the whole incident on her phone.

Fellow Labour MPs have rallied to her support, with Diane Abbot declaring “when will the Metropolitan police give up on racial profiling?”.

We spoke to Ms Butler and asked her if she felt she was racially profiled.

The Met Police said in a statement:

Prior to stopping the vehicle, an officer incorrectly entered the registration into a police computer which identified the car as registered to an address in Yorkshire.

Upon stopping the vehicle and speaking with the driver, it quickly became apparent that the registration had been entered incorrectly and was registered to the driver in London.

Once the mistake was realised the officer sought to explain this to the occupants; they were then allowed on their way. 

No searches were carried out on any individuals.

One of the occupants has since been contacted by a senior officer and they have discussed the stop, subsequent interaction as well as feedback regarding the stop.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter further with the occupants if they wish to do so.