Patel demands 'full report' on policing of vigil by end of day as future of Met chief hangs in balance

She made clear she took the events at Clapham - where Ms Everard was last seen alive - “very seriously” but wanted to give the Commissioner “a chance to explain” what happened.

“I really, really want to support the Home Secretary in her request to have a report from Cressida. The police have got a tough job in policing the coronavirus pandemic more generally at the moment,” she told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday:

“This morning, given how difficult last night was, after what has been an incredibly upsetting week, I’m very keen that we don’t pre-empt that report and we give the Met Commissioner a chance to explain what happened last night,” Ms Atkins explained.

Last night, Scotland Yard officers were seen grabbing several women and leading them away in handcuffs. The force later said four people were arrested for public order and coronavirus regulation breaches.

However, there has been condemnation of the policing of the vigil, which centred around a bandstand covered in flowers left in tribute to Ms Everard, whose body was found last week in woodland in Kent.

Ms Patel has demanded a full report on events; she also described the scenes at the vigil as “upsetting”.

Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, has called on Dame Cressida to resign while Catherine Mayer, the co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party, said the police chief’s position was “untenable”.

Labour has not called for Dame Cressida’s resignation. Jess Phillips, the Shadow Domestic Violence Minister, told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “The reality is if Cressida Dick stays or goes,[it] doesn’t make women in this country more safe, and that’s what I want to talk about.”

The Birmingham MP said there were “so many missed opportunities throughout the day for police to work with organisers to create a completely safe vigil so that people could go and have a moment of sorrow and a moment of resistance”.

Her Labour colleague Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, said the scenes in Clapham were “unacceptable”, tweeting: “The police have a responsibility to enforce Covid laws but from images I’ve seen it’s clear the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate.”

Conservative backbencher Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Commons Women and Equalities Committee, said she was "truly shocked" at the scenes on Clapham Common.

"In this country we police by consent, not by trampling the tributes to a woman who was murdered and dragging other women to the ground. Badly misjudged by #metpolice," Ms Nokes tweeted.

But Ken March, the Met Police Federation Chairman, hit back at the criticism, saying: “Politicians of all parties should make themselves aware of all the facts before rushing to judgement and making statements.”

Vigils for Ms Everard also took place in Glasgow, Nottingham, Birmingham and Bristol.

Earlier today, Assistant Met Commissioner Helen Ball said police had been put into a position “where enforcement action was necessary”.

She explained: “Hundreds of people were packed tightly together, posing a very real risk of easily transmitting Covid-19.

“Police must act for people’s safety, this is the only responsible thing to do. The pandemic is not over and gatherings of people from right across London and beyond, are still not safe.

“Those who gathered were spoken to by officers on a number of occasions and over an extended period of time. We repeatedly encouraged those who were there to comply with the law and leave. Regrettably, a small minority of people began chanting at officers, pushing and throwing items.”

The assembled crowd chanted “shame on you” as police led people away at the vigil, while during another confrontation a distressed woman could be heard telling officers “you’re supposed to protect us”.

In one video, an unidentified woman could be seen being shoved forcefully in the back by two officers after being lifted from her knees. She then tried to bend down near the officers and was shoved back again. She could be heard shouting that she was trying to retrieve her glasses.

Reclaim These Streets had organised the vigil before being forced to cancel following consultation with Scotland Yard, which said it would be in breach of the coronavirus restrictions.

After the clashes, organiser Jamie Klingler said the force’s handling of events was a sign of the “systemic ignoring and oppressing of women”.

She noted: “We were shocked and really, really sad and to see videos of policemen handling women at a vigil about violence against women by men…It was painful and pretty triggering to see.”

Ms Klinger added: “The fact that nobody stepped in and said: ‘Do you see how this looks?’ The fact that Thursday and Friday they wasted our organising time by dragging us to the High Court for our human rights to protest and we were going to have a silent vigil.

“Especially today, it’s Mother’s Day. It’s the week of International Women’s Day. And instead of allowing and facilitating it like the Lambeth police wanted to – and that police force was so supportive – Scotland Yard quashed us and in doing so silenced us and got the reaction they got last night.”

Tomorrow, MPs will debate the Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which will significantly increase the state’s powers to crack down on protests.

UK ministers argue the legislation will empower police to take a “more proactive approach” to managing “highly disruptive” protests deemed to be causing too much public disturbance, which some regard was the case of demonstrations staged by Extinction Rebellion, in which people glued themselves to public transport and entrances to Parliament.

But Labour, while supporting some measures in the bill, has made clear it will vote against it. The Opposition wants the Government to make misogyny a hate crime and increase the minimum sentences for rapists and stalkers to tackle violence against women and girls.

David Lammy, the Shadow Justice Minister, said: "The tragic death of Sarah Everard has instigated a national demand for action to tackle violence against women.

“This is no time to be rushing through poorly thought-out measures to impose disproportionate controls on free expression and the right to protest.”

The Tottenham MP went on: “Now is the time to unite the country and put in place on long overdue protections for women against unacceptable violence, including action against domestic homicides, rape and street harassment. And we must tackle the misogynistic attitudes that underpin the abuse women face.

“Instead, the Conservatives have brought forward a Bill that is seeking to divide the country. It is a mess, which could lead to harsher penalties for damaging a statue than for attacking a woman,” he added.

Yesterday, serving Met officer Wayne Couzens, who is accused of murdering Ms Everard, was remanded in custody after his first court appearance where it emerged her body was found inside a large builder’s bag.

Couzens, 48, is charged with kidnapping and murdering Ms Everard, who went missing while walking home from a friend’s flat in south London on March 3. He is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.