A top City Hall figure has been asked if the mayor of London Sadiq Khan “should consider his position” after the Met Police was placed into special measures.

Sophie Linden, Mr Khan’s deputy mayor for policing, has been grilled on the shock news that the capital’s police force has been placed into a watchdog process known as Engage.

It follows months of scandal for the embattled force, which saw Mr Khan lose confidence in the leadership of commissioner Dame Cressida Dick earlier this year.

A string of crises has dogged the Met, from the murder of Sarah Everard at the hands of serving armed cop Wayne Couzens and a grim report into vile racist and misogynistic texts sent by officers at Charing Cross police station; to outrage over the strip searches of black children sparked by the treatement of 15-year-old Child Q, and ongoing concerns into homophobic attitudes surrounding the investigation into serial Grindr killer Stephen Port.

Video: London Assembly