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Sir Ian Blair's future in doubt as political critics renew attack
Martin Bentham and Justin Davenport, Evening Standard19 Oct 2007
Sir Ian Blair faced growing questions about his future today as London politicians expressed new concerns about the way he runs the Met.
Critics claimed the Met Commissioner's position was "rocky" while there were more allegations he has lost the support of some senior colleagues.
The new problems for Sir Ian surfaced a day after he suffered a fierce grilling from the Metropolitan Police Authority over the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes.
During a combative meeting, Sir Ian was forced to say that he would not resign as Authority members accused him of trying to avoid the blame for the fatal blunder and of failing to be properly on top of what was happening inside his own force.
Although Sir Ian has the overall backing of the MPA and the support of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, critics piled on further pressure by mounting new attacks. MPA member Damian Hockney, who leads the One Party group on the London Assembly, said: "Sir Ian is in a difficult position. The criticism of him at yesterday's full authority meeting was across the board. Even those who normally support him were critical.
"The difficulty may come when other issues come to the fore, such as the Met's trial over the de Menezes shooting on health and safety grounds."
Mr Hockney said that when Sir John Stevens, Sir Ian's predecessor, faced a health and safety trial he would have had no option but to resign had he lost.
Others close to the MPA warned that Sir Ian's position was becoming rocky. One source said: "You cannot demand his resignation in an open meeting because people like Jacqui Smith will rush to his defence and nothing gets done. But there is this sense now of how do you solve a problem like Ian Blair?"
The MPA has also announced its own review of the de Menezes shooting, focusing on issues such as why Sir Ian was not told an innocent man had been killed until the next day.
Insiders hope this report may be more incisive in its findings than the IPCC's investigation, which cleared Sir Ian over claims he knowingly misled the public despite raising serious doubts about communication within the Met over the affair.
In his questioning of Sir Ian, Tory MPA member Richard Barnes blamed this on the "absence of an inquiring mind" and added: "I have deep-seated concerns about the leadership of the Metropolitan Police."
Other London politicians defended Sir Ian. Jenny Jones, the Green Party representative on the MPA, said he was still the best man for the job and the Home Secretary is said to retain full confidence in him.
