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The day Boris turned into the quiet assassin
Pippa Crerar and Justin Davenport3 Oct 2008
When Sir Ian Blair turned up for the routine meeting at City Hall at midday on Wednesday he had no inkling that the axe was about to fall.
Boris Johnson had scheduled what was billed as a planning meeting to discuss his taking charge of the Metropolitan Police Authority only days before.
But round the table in the Mayor's office sat not only Mr Johnson but his deputy for policing, Kit Malthouse, and MPA chief executive, Catherine Crawford.
The Mayor's private secretary, who normally takes notes of formal meetings, unusually was absent.
Ever the stoic professional, Sir Ian shook hands and sat down to get on with business.
And then the Mayor dropped his bombshell. Apologetic and polite, he explained he felt it was time for the police officer to move on. He gave no reason beyond that it was time for a strategic change of direction at the Met.
Sir Ian, dressed in a smart suit, took the news calmly, asking for 24 hours to think about it. There were no trembling lips or tantrums.
"I think he would have to be pretty stupid to have been that surprised after what Boris had said during the campaign," said one City Hall insider. "Although I don't think he expected the timing."
But as Mr Johnson continued, Sir Ian's grip on his glass of water got tighter and tighter.
When the 20-minute meetingwas over, he rang Scotland Yard immediately to cancel his diary for the rest of the afternoon. He went home to Oxford to discuss with his wife Felicity what to do. They agreed that he had no choice.
At 10.30 yesterday morning Sir Ian, his mind made up, arrived at Mr Malthouse's offices at the MPA, just behind Scotland Yard.
Again dressed in his suit, he announced his decision, before heading down the road to the Home Office.
Jacqui Smith, despite being aware the storm clouds had been gathering over Sir Ian's head, was taken by surprise at his resignation. She tried to persuade him to change his mind, saying it would be in the best interests of policing in London - and nationally - for him to stay on.
But Sir Ian was resolute, and eventually she reluctantly had to accept.
Only then did he return to his office at Scotland Yard where he gathered around him his close aides and senior officers who had remained loyal and informed them of his decision saying they needed to put into action a strategy for announcing his departure.
News of his decision was kept to a tight group of senior officers and aides.
At 1.30pm yesterday he chaired a meeting of his management board with the new - mostly Tory - MPA members and gave no sign of what had happened.
Only when he made his excuses half way through the meeting was there any hint.
One of those present said: "He said something like: 'News moves quickly around this place and there is something that I have to deal with. I am sure you will hear about it before too long.'"
He then went into meetings with aides to finalise his resignation speech.
Finally, he called a meeting of the management board and gave them the official news of his resignation, saying that in a few minutes he would be appearing on television. By now, news of his resignation had swept through the Yard leaving officers and staff in a state of shock.
Many crowded around televisions to watch the speech. One senior officer said: "I thought it was very dignified, in fact it was probably the best he has ever made. It shows what he can do when the pressure is off."
Just before the news broke, Sir Ian had been flooded with phone calls of commiseration.
Former Mayor Ken Livingstone tried to get him to change his mind, arguing that it would be a "mistake" for Sir Ian to give in.
Mr Livingstone urged him to fight the pressure to go as otherwise he would leave his successors open to constant political interference.
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown rang to express his regret and thank him for his service to the country and the nation.
But the Tories were jubilant. "Finally!" said one source close to David Cameron. "It should have happened a year ago."
Policy Exchange, the think tank where many Central Office and City Hall staff have cut their political teeth, was among the first to comment.
"This is not just a story of one man's failure to do his job properly. It is about a system that is broken," the press release read.
Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve also rushed out a statement indicating his approval. "This is the right decision. We have been calling for Sir Ian to step down for almost a year ... while Cabinet Ministers from the PM onwards continued to express total confidence in him," he said.
"It is now clear that they have shown a serious lack of judgment about the leadership of the most important police force in Britain."
Over the course of the evening, Labour rolled out its heavy-hitters to condemn the decision.
Mr Livingstone and minister for policing Tony McNulty, locked horns with Mr Malthouse on Newsnight.
Ms Smith appeared on Question Time, where she was told by Lord Heseltine - the former deputy prime minister - that if she had really thought Sir Ian was the right man to lead the Met she should have backed him and refused his resignation.
The political war over the departure of Britain's most senior police officer - and who should succeed him - had begun.
Reader views (1)
Easy to sort out, make the mayor responsible for the appointment as in every other city in the land.
Jacqui Smith wants to appoint her own man in there but that ain't going to happen while Boris is Mayor.
Checkmate Mr Broon.
- Oap, Cambridge UK, 03/10/2008 15:03
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