The “distressing and appalling” treatment of a 15-year-old schoolgirl subjected to a strip search by the Met Police has again put the force’s culture under scrutiny, a Home Office minister has told MPs.

The case of the teenager – known as Child Q – follows other incidents which have seen the force face widespread criticism, including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving constable and the discovery of offensive messages between police officers.

MPs voiced their anger and demanded immediate action, as policing minister Kit Malthouse admitted that the public was entitled to expect higher standards from the force.

It stirred heightened emotions from members, including Labour’s Hackney MP Diane Abbott, who said: “All parents are thinking ‘this could have been my daughter’.”

When Labour’s Florence Eshalomi spoke, her voice shook with emotion as she said: “In eight years, when my daughter is 15 years old, I hope that this issue still isn’t happening.”

But Mr Malthouse declined to call for officers and teachers involved in the 2020 Child Q incident to lose their jobs – saying it was a matter for the independent police watchdog, which is investigating.

What happened in the case of Child Q?

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A safeguarding report last week detailed how Child Q, a black schoolgirl, was strip searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of possessing cannabis.

Scotland Yard apologised after the report, which concluded racism “was likely to have been an influencing factor”.

The incident sparked a protest over the weekend.

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Mr Malthouse said the report was “both troubling and deeply concerning”.

“This experience will have been traumatic for the child involved and the impact on her welfare should not be underestimated,” he told MPs

“The government and the public rightly expects the highest standards from our police officers.

“The ability of the police to perform their core functions is dependent on their capacity to secure and maintain the confidence and support of the public for their actions.”

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Mr Malthouse said that while the police had apologised and recognised that the incident should never have happened, “the force’s culture has again come under scrutiny”.

He said strip search was “one of the most intrusive powers available to the police” and the law made clear it “must be fair, respectful and without unlawful discrimination”.

The minister was responding after an urgent question by Labour’s Bell Ribeiro-Addy asking for the government’s response to the case.

The Streatham MP pointed to a “string of incidents” also involving the Met Police, including a previous apology over a strip search; the rape, and murder of Miss Everard by Wayne Couzens; and “racism and misogyny” uncovered in Charing Cross police station.

She also pointed to the “brutal” handling of the Clapham Common demonstration after Miss Everard’s murder and “record low confidence” in policing.

Dame Cressida Dick announced she would be resigning as the Met’s commissioner last month, saying she’d lost the confidence of London mayor Sadiq Khan.

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