World at One, Sir Mark Rowley: rule of law in "very, very precarious" state

World at One

Sir Mark Rowley: rule of law in "very, very precarious" state

13 August 2026

Available for 27 days

Britain's top police officer Sir Mark Rowley warns the rule of law and public safety is in a "very, very precarious" state. Jonny Dymond interviews a former Home Office boss about the system of law enforcement and justice. Plus: a resident of Chigwell, Essex tells us about weathering a heatwave without running water and will anyone listen to Barrack Obama's new book podcast?

Correction: When referring to an earlier interview with Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Mark Rowley on the BBC, the presenter mistakenly said that he believed Sir Mark had referred to the number of sex offenders in London increasing by one hundred per week. In fact, Sir Mark had said the increase was one hundred every three months and so we have amended the programme to remove this comment.