‘Guilty as charged’: senior UK officer calls on police chiefs to admit institutional racism

Met's Neil Basu says positive discrimination' should be introduced to boost minority ethnic numbers in ranks

• British policing is institutionally racist. Until we admit it we'll never win back trust'

One of Britain's most senior officers has called on chiefs to admit that institutional racism blights policing, declaring we are guilty as charged", and blaming failures on the leadership of law enforcement.

Neil Basu, an assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan police and former head of counter-terrorism, told the Guardian positive discrimination" should be introduced to boost numbers of minority ethnic officers in the ranks.