Voters want Boris Johnson to appoint Cabinet minister to make streets safe for women

Nearly six in ten voters believe the PM should make the safety of women and girls a higher priority than he does now

Nearly six in ten voters now believe Boris Johnson should appoint a Cabinet minister to keep Britain’s streets safe.

An exclusive Survation poll for the Sunday Mirror shows most people want the PM to make the security of women and girls a higher priority than he does now.

It follows the horrific murders of Sarah Everard and teacher Sabina Nessa.

Now 58% of those questioned in our survey want to see a Secretary of State for Street Safety at the Cabinet table.

While 56% believe that women should trust the police fewer than four in ten believe they are mostly safe while out and about.

Responding to our findings a spokesperson for London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “The Mayor understands that public trust in the police has been very severely damaged and how much work needs to be done to rebuild confidence.”

And 44% in our survey say Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick should quit over her failure to spot that Sarah’s killer Wayne Couzens was a danger.

A third disagree and say she should remain in post.

In the wake of Couzens’ conviction Police Scotland introduced new verification checks for lone police officers.

They acted after it was revealed Couzens used his warrant card to handcuff Sarah and abduct her from a south London street before raping and murdering her.

It means members of the public encountering the police in Scotland now have the right to have the officer’s personal radio switched to loudspeaker so control room staff can confirm their identity.

Or the officer will call 999 and allow the person being questioned to speak directly to the control room.

But 58 per cent of those questioned in our survey thought those arrangements would be impractical if a plain clothes officer was about to make an arrest.

Mr Khan’s aide added: “Sadiq worked with Home Secretary Priti Patel to agree a full inquiry and pushed the Met to appoint an independent reviewer to look at serious cultural issues, including sexism and misogyny.

“He will continue to hold the Met to account to ensure they urgently work to regain the trust of women, girls and all Londoners.”

Survation interviewed 1,040 adults online between 6th – 7th October.