Meghan Markle ‘faced many credible and ”disgusting” threats to her life’

By James On Nov 29, 2022

Police investigated “many” credible threats against Meghan Markle while she was living in Britain, former counter-terrorism chief Neil Basu revealed today.

Mr Basu, who is stepping down as the Met’s assistant commissioner for specialist operations, said the threats against the Duchess of Sussex were “disgusting” and “very real”.

When asked if they were credible, he replied, “Absolutely, and if you had seen the things that were written and you were going to receive it… the kind of rhetoric that’s online, if you don’t know what I know, you would feeling impressed. threat all the time.’

Mr Basu said there had been threats to Ms Markle’s on more than one occasion, adding: ‘We had teams investigating. People have been prosecuted for those threats.’

In a searing interview as he prepares to leave the Met after 30 years, he also suggested his outspoken views on race prevented him from becoming head of the National Crime Agency and demanded a crackdown on racist officers.

Neil Basu, who until recently was the Met’s assistant commissioner of specialist operations, said the threats against the Duchess of Sussex were “disgusting” and “very real.”

Who is Neil Basu? UK’s top ethnic minority agent blaming government for stopping him from becoming NCA chief

Anil Kanti ‘Neil’ Basu is the former head of counter-terrorism at the Met and was the highest serving British officer of Asian descent. He also served as assistant commissioner for specialized operations until September 2021, which includes national security responsibilities, and was originally tipped for the top job in 2017 before losing to Dame Cressida.

Mr Basu became a police officer at the Met in 1992, serving first as a bobby in Battersea, South London, then quickly rising through the ranks as District Commander in Barnet, North London, and Commander of South London in 2012. A Hindu, born to an Indian doctor father and a white British mother, he has said he has dealt with racism for most of his life. He grew up in Stafford, where he studied at Walton High School before studying economics at Nottingham University.

Mr Basu faced a series of controversies during his time at the Met, including calls to relax affirmative action laws in the Equality Act 2010 to increase the number of BAME recruits and threatening to prosecute journalists for publishing leaked telegrams from the British authorities. ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch.

A 2019 profile of Basu in the Mail On Sunday described him as well-liked within the force and by MI5 intelligence officials. But he was criticized for some of his operational decisions, particularly as head of Operations Weeting, Elveden and Tuleta. The three investigations into phone hacking, computer hacking and alleged payments to police officers by newspapers cost around £19.5 million and were criticized for criminalizing journalists.

Basu also raised his eyebrows when he criticized the Prevent program – which seeks to track down and de-radicalize Muslim extremists – as ‘toxic’. The senior agent threw in his hat to become head of the National Crime Agency – also known as ‘Britain’s FBI’.

Mr Basu is said to have reached the final two candidates before the Interior Ministry said he had failed and reopened the application process. He told The Sunday Times afterwards: ‘I am disappointed and will not be applying again. I will ask the Ministry of the Interior for an explanation.’

Mr Basu, who was Britain’s most senior immigrant police officer, told Channel 4’s Cathy Newman about his personal experience of racism and said his outspoken views on the issue have left him at odds with the government.

He claimed that this may have cost him the chance to take over as head of the National Crime Agency.

The former top police officer suggested racism was still a problem in the police force, saying new Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley “did the right thing” in calling for more powers to fire officers.

Mr Basu said he was proud to wake up and told Ms Newman, ‘Are you alert to issues of racial and social justice? Yes that’s me.

And if that’s the definition of waking up, then I wear it as a bumper sticker every day of the week.

And by the way, every police officer on duty, let alone a chief of police, better believe that.

“We serve the entire public without fear or favor, no matter who they resemble, not just the people we like.”

Basu also lashed out at Interior Minister Suella Braverman for her comments about how her “dream” was to send migrants to Rwanda.

“I find some of the comments coming out of the Home Office inexplicable,” he said.

“It is incredible to hear a succession of very powerful politicians who look like this talking in a language my father would have remembered from 1968. It is horrific.

‘I was born in 1968. The ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech took place in the constituency next to where my parents lived and made their lives hell. A mixed-race couple walking the streets in the 1960s. Stoned.’

He added, “I speak about race because I know something about race because I am a 54-year-old mixed-race male.”

The Interior Ministry said in a statement: “The Interior Minister expects the armed forces to have a zero-tolerance policy towards racism in their workplace.

But she is also very clear about the need to manage our borders effectively and have an asylum system that works for those who really need it, just like the British people.

“We are actively pushing for a culture change in the police force, including through a targeted review of police firings to ensure that officers who are not fit to serve can be removed quickly.

“There should be zero tolerance for people who are biased, who are corrupt, who have the kind of background you described and who shouldn’t come close to doing police work.”

When asked if hundreds if not thousands of police officers should go, Basu replied, “Yes, I think that’s right. If you are a police officer watching this and you are – like the vast majority of police officers – a good person who wants to do the right thing, then you should be the person not to walk by when you see that kind of behavior.”

Asked by Channel 4 News if the threats were credible, Mr Basu replied: ‘Absolutely, and if you had seen the things that were written and you would receive it’

The conversation with Channel 4 News’ Cathy Newman was Mr Basu’s first interview since he left the Metropolitan Police after 30 years

Mr Basu also suggested that his outspoken views on race may have cost him the chance to become head of the National Crime Agency.

“I do know that number 10 has previously interfered with my appointment to positions and I have not been told the reason for that,” he said.

“I would suspect – and people who know me suspect – it’s because I’ve been outspoken about issues that don’t suit the current political administration.

‘They’re wrong. Diversity and inclusion are two of the most important things in the police force.’

A spokesman for Number 10 Downing Street said: ‘A new Director-General was appointed to the National Crime Agency by the then Home Secretary earlier this year, following a fair and open recruitment campaign.

“This is a statutory decision for the Home Secretary, after consultation with Scottish ministers and the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland, in accordance with the Crime and Courts Act 2013.”

What’s the full interview on Channel 4 tonight at 7pm.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman pictured today outside number 10 Downing Street