Met police budget ‘heading off a cliff’, commissioner warns in funding plea

Sir Mark Rowley says force could have to shut half its ageing buildings in next decade and faces big deficit next year

Scotland Yard needs hundreds of millions of pounds in new funding to drag itself out of crisis as its budget is “heading off a cliff”, its commissioner has said.

Sir Mark Rowley said half of the Metropolitan police’s premises were so dilapidated that they faced closure within a decade, and sky-high demand on policing had not been met by an increase in money.