Sarah Everard murder: I would have got into Couzens' car, says MP Jess Philips

Labour's Jess Phillips says the onus can't be on women to change their behaviour, after the murder of Sarah Everard by an off-duty police officer.

She said she would have got into Wayne Couzens' car - "almost anybody would" - and more action was needed to restore trust in the police.

Couzens showed a warrant card as he kidnapped Ms Everard.

The Met Police has advised anyone stopped by a lone plain clothes officer to check their credentials.

The force says people detained in this way should ask "where are your colleagues" and "where have you come from?"

It suggested other "very searching questions", including "why are you here" and "exactly why are you stopping or talking to me?"

And the force said that, to verify the answers, people should ask to speak to an operator on a police radio.

But Jess Phillips, Labour's shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, said the suggestion that it is women who should "change our behaviour once again is a bit tiring".

She said she knows her rights "better than most people" but even she "would have got in the car and almost anybody would have got in the car".

Women have been saying for some time they do not feel heard by the police, she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The only way confidence will be restored is "if we see the government and police forces starting to actually take violence against women and girls, and the complaints that women make day in, day out, seriously," she said.

She added: "This is a conversation where women have been saying for some time, even before the death of Sarah Everard, that they don't feel that they are trusted by the police when they speak up or that violence and crime against them is prioritised."

Policing minister, Kit Malthouse, has acknowledged police forces will have to work "much harder" to win back public trust.

He told Radio 4's Today that Wayne Couzens' crimes have dealt a "devastating blow" to public confidence in the police and it would take months and years to rebuild it.

"It's hard to underestimate the impact of this tragic, awful case," he said.

Mr Malthouse said "sadly" the Met had had to issue advice to women approached by police - and that it was "perfectly reasonable" they make enquiries and seek verification.

And he insisted there was a "suite of things" being done by ministers to tackle the issue of violence against women.