Former Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Rick Prior has told GB News he "stands by everything" he said in the interview that led to his removal from the position.
Prior was suspended in October 2024 after expressing concerns that officers were "hesitating" before engaging with ethnic minority Londoners.
He had claimed that fears over "vexatious" investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) meant officers had withdrawn from applying the law fairly across all backgrounds.
The Police Federation of England and Wales has now permanently removed Prior from his position and barred him from standing for any Federation position in future.
Prior was suspended in October 2024 after expressing concerns that officers were "hesitating" before engaging with ethnic minority Londoners
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Prior told GB News today: "I stand by everything I said in that interview.
"I said it because I was aware of a number of cases where it became apparent to me that race was being used as an aggravating factor by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to raise the profile and escalate allegations against officers.
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"In many of those cases, once they reached tribunal or court, the allegations of racism fell away because no evidence was offered to support them.
"As I said at the time, there were two very high-profile cases where that occurred: the Bianca Williams and Dos Santos stop-and-search case, as well as the case commonly referred to as the Croydon bus incident."
Prior also explained that a woman refused to show her ticket to a revenue protection officer and pushed past a PCSO.
"PC Perry, who was there doing his job as briefed, had to step in and arrest her," Prior said.
The conviction against PC Lathwood was later overturned on appeal. Following the interview, the Metropolitan Police's Professional Standards team assessed Prior's comments and concluded they did not amount to misconduct.
Prior told GB News that after being suspended, he was contacted by the Free Speech Union, who offered him support.
The Federation's decision to permanently remove Prior came after he launched a crowdfunding legal challenge in the courts.
In a copy of the hearing outcome seen by GB News, Prior was cited for "commenting to the media about your suspension and the allegations against you," which was noted as a breach of suspension conditions.
The Federation decided to permanently remove Prior
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Prior believes there was a "high degree of political animus" behind his removal.
In a statement, the Policing Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) said: “We can confirm that Rick Prior, Chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation, has been found in breach of the Federation’s Standards.
“As a result, Rick has been removed from his position as Chair and as a Federation representative and also prevented from standing for election to any Federation position. Both sanctions are imposed on a permanent basis."
Prior told The People's Channel: "I am going to continue to fight this. I won't be cowed and I won't be bullied. We will be challenging this decision."
