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| - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday backed London's police chief after outrage over her officers' handling of a vigil for a woman who was allegedly kidnapped and murdered. Johnson said he still had full confidence in Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick but supported calls from across the political spectrum for a review into how the force handled the gathering on Saturday. Dick came under fire after male officers scuffled with the crowd and physically restrained female demonstrators on Saturday. They had assembled to pay tribute to Sarah Everard, 33, who disappeared on March 3 and whose body was found last week. A Met Police officer has been charged with her kidnap and murder. The Met has agreed to launch an internal probe into its handling of the event, while interior minister Priti Patel has also asked HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, a policing watchdog, to "conduct a lessons learned review in to the policing". "The police do have a very, very difficult job. But there's no question that the scenes that we saw were very distressing," Johnson said. "The reality is that the country is united still in shock and grief about what happened to Sarah Everard and we must do everything we can to find the answers." Dick, who was expected to join Johnson at a meeting of the government's Crime and Justice Taskforce, has resisted mounting calls for her to quit. She was "more determined, not less" to remain in her post, she said. Everard's disappearance and death ignited debate across Britain about women's safety in public spaces. Saturday's event had been banned on coronavirus safety grounds, and police said they moved in because of public health fears. But the row over their intervention comes as the government pushes draft legislation through Parliament to grant police greater powers to crack down on disruptive protests. The opposition Labour Party, which has condemned policing at the vigil, has said it will vote against the bill on the grounds that it places "disproportionate controls on free expression". Speaking ahead of a vote on the measures in the UK parliament, Johnson said the bill would bring in "tougher sentences for rapists" and "new measures to tackle domestic violence". csp/phz/jj/
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