Annual General Meeting of the new term of the Metropolitan Police Authority at which we (the members) vote for the Chair, Deputies and Chairs of committees etc.

Since the previous Chair, Labour Assembly Member Toby Harris, failed to get re-elected, Labour have been running around trying to ensure a Labour succession to the chairmanship. As at least half the so called ‘independents’ on the MPA are Labour hacks of one sort or another – Len Duvall is duly enthroned. For what it is worth, he has my support anyway. I think he’s probably the only Labour member who could do the job – and none of the other contenders could have garnered enough support.

Of course, the other member of note, was the new Home Secretary’s Independent appointment to the MPA – none other than – yes you have guessed it – that well-known, independent Toby Harris! So independent of political affiliation – not!

Anyway – rather than bore you with the rest of the nominations and positions etc, I’ll move onto the Commissioner getting a bit rattled by the discussion on Stop and Search. Having just had the explosion in the media over the rise of stops on the Asian Community under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act – he was keen to put into the arena completely different statistics.

I make my comments – and I guess we left it that we agree to disagree. I still don’t think the Met fully realise or acknowledge the extent of racial bias we found in the Stop and Search scrutiny – and I think it must be because it is subliminal – almost unintentional.

Deputy Commissioner Blair came over for a chat and to ask if I had received his letter to me in reply to my letter over the DNA testing of black men in South London to find a serial rapist who has for many years committed these crimes against elderly ladies. It is an horrific crime and the police are desperate to get their man.

However, I am of the view that this ‘voluntary’ process inviting the 1000 or so members of the community who fit the racial DNA picture to come give their DNA has some real issues around intimidation. Sir Ian Blair argues in his letter that basically the end justifies the means – and even I can see how hard it must be to know you can get him – and then not be able to do the tests. In his letter, Sir Ian says that out of ‘125 initial refusals, only need to use powers of arrest in five cases’.

I have written back to ask whether they were arrested because they refused to give DNA samples or arrested on another charge and whilst under arrest DNA was then taken. There are some very difficult issues around this taking of DNA from anyone brought to a police station whether charged or not – a result of recent changes to legislation which I believe will discriminate against ethnic communities and also begin a slippery slide to loss of civil liberties.

It is easy, when a crime is this horrific, to say it is so important that just this time we will employ effectively mandatory testing. But once protections of our rights are gone for one reason – it is so easy for them to be eroded.

I feel that the police are cross with me for pursuing this and I have had one email from an old lady in South London cross with me for questionning these tactics. But I do feel the need to follow this through.

And if it is mandatory testing – then let us have the cajones to state it outright, change legislation – but let us not have the hypocrisy of pretending there is anything voluntary about this process. And if the Government really wants a DNA database of the whole country – then let them stand on that platform and propose it publicly and have the battle. The legislation they have passed simply lets it in through the back door – and is the sort of legislation that in practice I believe will lead to the communities suffering further bias.