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Sir Ian Blair to escape action over £3m Met contracts
Justin Davenport and Benedict Moore-Bridger24.11.08
SIR IAN BLAIR will escape any possible disciplinary action for awarding £3million of Met Police contracts to a friend as he will leave office before an inquiry is complete, it emerged today.
The Met police chief, 55, will step down on Friday, by which time he will no longer be able to face action over business deals involving his friend Andy Miller. The final report of the inquiry will be examined by the Home Office and Metropolitan Police Authority before a decision is made.
But there is little chance of this happening before Friday, the commissioner's last day before he retires.
Sir Ian is expected to escape the investigation with a slap on the wrist for his role in the awarding of contracts to Mr Miller's company. However, the inquiry is expected to highlight serious errors of judgment on the part of the Commissioner. If he had remained in office the outcome of the investigation would have led to renewed calls for him to resign and some insiders say it would have proved extremely damaging.
The key criticism centres on Sir Ian's role in awarding the contracts to his friend. He is believed to have announced an interest in Mr Miller's company at an MPA meeting, when the decision was due to be made. But the Standard understands he then remained in the room and even made comments during the decision-making process.
Sir Ian, who has been interviewed by detectives from Surrey Police and had documents taken from his office during the investigation, has denied any wrongdoing. But leaked emails have revealed the situation was so dire that Kit Malthouse, deputy Mayor for policing, discussed suspending the Commissioner.
The documents show discussions between MPA officials about pressing "the nuclear button". The option was not taken but when Mayor Boris Johnson became chairman of the MPA last month, Sir Ian was forced to announce he would step down.
He is now in line for a £1million pay-off, and will host a retirement party celebrating his two-and-a-half years in charge of the force on Thursday.
Sir Ian also wants to pay a leading artist £10,000 for a retirement portrait of himself before his last day.
It is a tradition that commissioners have their portraits painted before they leave office, but usually at a much lower price. Lord Stevens, Sir Ian's predecessor, is said to have spent only £1,000 of taxpayers' money on his picture, by artist Sarah Bryant.
A number of officials want the commissioner to agree to a similarly modest budget. The MPA has confirmed that it intends to pay for a portrait.
Reader views (12)
So Blair will be having a retirement party on Thursday, assuming he invites all his friends he can hold it in one of the phone boxes in Victoria Station, even then I suppose the rest of us will end up paying for it.
- Keith, Ipswich
"Sir Ian Blair to escape action over £3m Met contracts"- of course he will, it's par for the course in socialist dictatorships.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster
@ George, Essex. So, other professionals do not pay for their pension? What absolute tosh. Nobody makes them join the police, it's their choice.
@ Val Daniels, Mijas Costa. "Put their lives on the line every working day of their lives"? Risible nonsense. This is the usual emotional claptrap.
- Chuck Unsworth, London
I hope he chokes on his Waitrose fine wine.
- Rod, Epping, UK
OK so plod pays 11% of MY money into his pension. He also gets massive allowances un earned, together with that wonderful little ruse (Mutual aid) whereby if he is seconded to another force for a period of time to help an enquiry he can ear thousands in overtime per month!!! Great for a contribution to his pension. £30K for a constable, bloody expensive form fillers, they are not worth it. (I know they start on a lot lower.)Bin men are more likely to put their lives on the line everyday than plod. They are in danger of contracting such pleasant disease as Weil's. Get real, apart for football matches and arresting speeding motorists you very rarely see them.
- Alan, Carlisle UK
Nu Labor go away!!
- Georgie, Islington, London
What a stink, if anyone else gave their friends the work heads would roll!
My faifth in law and order is at rock bottom.
- George Dorman, Bexleyheath UK
You could always have joined the Police force, David, and then you would have earned a decent pension. But to receive that pension, you would have contributed 11% of your salary each year, and put your life on the line every working day of your 30 years' service. I hope Sir Ian enjoys a long and happy retirement, he has earned it.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa. Spain
TWO WORDS! WHITE WASH!
- Tom, london
Of course he will. Because if he gets away with it, so will the rest of the crew in Parliament and City Hall.
- Helen, norwich
Police Officers pay 11% of their wages throughout their 30+ years service into their pension, compared with 1.5% for the civil service. No matter what your views on Ian Blair or the rest of his 'pay out', police officers are one of the few professions who can actually claim they have paid for their pension and are entitled to it.
- George, Essex
You go off and enjoy your £126k a year pension Sir Ian whilst the rest of us are struggling to pay our bills and keep our heads above water - no credit crunch for you now or indeed ever I would expect!
- Davidb, Knutsford UK
