The prime minister has called for a change in the “culture of policing” after the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met Police officer, with the force’s commissioner committing to a review and the appointment of an independent “anti-sleaze” adviser.

The announcement by Cressida Dick came as Boris Johnson told reporters at the Conservative Party conference there was a “massive job” to be done restoring women’s confidence in the police.

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Wayne Couzens – who will spend the rest of his life in jail for the kidnap, rape, and murder of Ms Everard – was known as “the rapist” by former colleagues because he made women feel so uncomfortable.

He had been accused of indecent exposure in 2015 – and again days before the murder of Ms Everard.

Commissioner Dick has again ruled out resigning following Couzens’ sentencing, despite calls for her to go.

She said: “People will be entitled to their opinion, I’ve got a job to do, I’m getting on with it.

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“My job now is to lead the Met through a difficult time and rebuild that public trust, which I am doing through bringing in an independent person to review our standards and culture.”

Writing in the Evening Standard, the commissioner also vowed to appoint a “high-profile anti-sleaze adviser”.

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Mr Johnson said: “What we can certainly conclude from the Wayne Couzens case and what happened there is that there is a massive job of work to do to give women the confidence that they need.

“I want to be clear: I believe people should be confident in the police.

“I believe police officers, men and women up and down the country, will be absolutely sickened by what has happened, and they will be doing everything they can, and I know they do everything they can, to help and reassure the public. So, it is vital that the public trust the police.

“But what we need to do is do some things to make the streets safer, and we are investing massively in CCTV and street lighting, and those sorts of things, but also make sure we change the culture of policing.”

Mr Johnson called for crimes to be dealt with more quickly and for a boost in the recruitment of female police officers, adding that up to 40% of new recruits to the Met are women.

Downing Street has said the criminal justice system has the funding to act on violence against women and girls but that there were systemic issues that needed to be tackled.

However, a lawyer and author known as the Secret Barrister disputed this – and claimed delays had been caused by cuts to the system.

They wrote on Twitter: “Delays are caused by the decision of Boris Johnson and his colleagues to cut criminal justice to the bone.”

Lies by @BorisJohnson.

Lies, lies, lies.

Delays in criminal justice have nothing – literally nothing – to do with “evidence that’s produced by the defence”.

Delays are caused by the decision of Boris Johnson and his colleagues to cut criminal justice to the bone. pic.twitter.com/pSQiSd3e3l

Mr Johnson has also rejected calls for an immediate public inquiry and said investigations by the Met and police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), should be allowed to proceed.

The IOPC is currently investigating an “inappropriate graphic, depicting violence against women” that a probationary constable shared with colleagues on WhatsApp.

It is also looking into the conduct of five officers from three forces, and one former officer, who allegedly sent discriminatory messages in 2019.

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Earlier, chairwoman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Yvette Cooper, accused the government of “burying its head in the sand” over violence against women and girls.

She is calling for an independent investigation into the vetting process used by the Metropolitan Police when recruiting officers.

It comes after a former chief superintendent of the Met, Parm Sandhu, told Sky News that every police officer in the UK should be re-vetted following the sentencing of Couzens.

Since then, a serving Met officer has appeared in court charged with rape.

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Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Cooper said: “Sarah Everard was murdered by someone she should have been able to trust, who abused his power as a police officer.

“We do need a proper, independent inquiry into how that could happen, how such a dangerous man could serve as a police officer for so long, why earlier problems weren’t investigated, how he could be cleared to use firearms, but also more widely into the scale of failings in vetting and safeguarding, in culture and in attitudes to violence against women and girls within policing.

“Where there have been serious crimes in the past that raise similar questions about abuse of power or trust in a major institution, like, for example, the Shipman murders, the (Jimmy) Savile abuse or the murder of Stephen Lawrence, we have had independent inquiries to get to the truth and set out major reform.”

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