Sarah Everard murder: We'll stop at nothing to jail more rapists - PM

The government "will stop at nothing to make sure that we get more rapists behind bars", Boris Johnson has said.

The PM told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show prosecutions for rape and sexual violence were "going wrong".

He added women should have confidence in the police, with the nation's officers "overwhelmingly trustworthy".

The jailing of Wayne Couzens for Sarah Everard's murder has raised questions about women's safety, and trust in the police and criminal justice system.

Couzens was a police officer in London at the time of Ms Everard's murder, and the Metropolitan Police is facing questions over its failure to stop him.

Asked by Andrew Marr whether he would launch an independent public inquiry into the case, Mr Johnson said he wanted the police watchdog to complete its review first.

He said: "We do need to look systemically at not just the Wayne Couzens case but the whole handling of rape, domestic violence, sexual violence and female complaints about harassment, all together."

Over the past five years, cases reported to police - and initially recorded as rape - have risen sharply.

However, the proportion making it to court - known as prosecutions - in that time has more than halved, the BBC's Reality Check team found.

Figures for 2019-20 show 1,439 suspects in cases when a rape had been alleged were convicted of rape or lesser offences in England and Wales, the lowest level since records began.

This was down from 1,925 the previous year, despite a rise in reports of rape.

Meanwhile, the Met has also been criticised over its safety advice to women after it emerged Couzens used his position as an officer to falsely arrest and kidnap Ms Everard.

The advice said women who were suspicious of lone plain-clothes police officers should shout out, flag down a bus, or knock on doors for help.

Mr Johnson said women who were suspicious about they way they were being treated by a police officer should follow this advice.

But he added: "My view is that the police do - overwhelmingly - a wonderful job and what I want is the public, and women in particular, girls and young women, women of all ages, to trust the police.

"They are overwhelmingly trustworthy."