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Defiant Sir Ian defends his 'gaffes'
Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent28 Nov 2008
MET chief Sir Ian Blair today stood by some of his most controversial comments - but admitted there were "three or four things that I've said wrong".
Speaking on his last day in office he said he was "proud" of his comments about Soham when he said he did not understand the fuss about the schoolgirls' murders.
He said: "The Soham reference was wrong. Unnecessary. But I'm actually proud of the fact that I drew attention to the fact the murder of young black people is not as important as the murder of young white people as an average.
"Of course there are certain differences, Damilola and so on, but I have had people walking up to me ever since I said that comment, black and minority people, off the street, in restaurants, saying thank goodness somebody had the courage to say that. So sometimes you have to say some things." Sir Ian, who was forced out of office last month by Mayor Boris Johnson, became known for a string of gaffes during his four years in office, including his admission that he had secretly tape-recorded the Attorney General.
He admitted in his last interview that he became more guarded after his public comments provoked controversy.
"Well I don't think I have learned a lesson in a way. I think I'm just a person who has been massively in the public eye.
"And so that if out of the thousands and thousands of column inches that have been written about me, there are three or four things that I've said wrong, well OK, but I'm not superhuman."
Sir Ian declared that running the £3.5billion organisation of 50,000 employees had been "99 per cent enjoyable". But he accepted many will focus on the other one per cent, including the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the bungled Forest Gate anti-terror raids and the apparent gaffes. He said crime had fallen by almost a fifth during his 46 months in charge, with significant reductions in violent crime and murders. He said the Met's response to the July 2005 attacks was one of his proudest moments and he considered Mr de Menezes the 53rd victim of the terrorists. He said he remained "dreadfully sorry" for the death of the Brazilian electrician, but insisted he did not know an innocent man was dead until almost 24 hours after the shooting.
The Commissioner warned that his successor will not only have to battle the threat of terrorism and rising teenage murders, but also the politicisation of policing - for which he himself has been blamed. He admitted the upper reaches of Britain's largest force have "got a bit like politics", with one side briefing against the other.
He said any successor must be careful to tell the Mayor how they expected to run the force. He said candidates should be clear where they stand and tell the Mayor "if you don't want that, don't choose me".
Sir Ian said two decades ago high-profile police incidents were once treated as a matter for senior officers alone.
"That has changed out of all recognition because crime is so significant. I think what we need is both of the major parties to give the police a bit more breathing room and recognise how extraordinary the achievements are.
"An unarmed service, reducing crime at a rate that has never been seen before, with public confidence going up, battling terror at one end and anti-social behaviour at the other. Now those are the areas we want to be concentrating on, not specific events, specific failures. The Met, for instance, has over the years I have been in it, had its occasional disasters. That is the business we are in."
Sir Ian's comments came after he blasted Mr Johnson for forcing him to resign. He said standing down was the "only honourable course", despite retaining the support of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. Asked about his relationship with Mr Johnson, Sir Ian said: "I don't see myself as a victim. I don't see him as a villain. I just see this as there comes a moment when you have to take hard choices. I don't think anybody who has seen my last four years would regard me as trying to find easy ways out of anything."
In his final days in office, Sir Ian returned to Savile Row police station, where he began his career 34 years ago. Walking through Soho he said the area was "much rougher" in the early Seventies but officers today were more concerned about guns and knives.
Sir Ian remembered how he was once attacked by a machete-wielding man in a Wembley cell, but said the worst he could normally expect on patrol was a "thump on the nose".
Sir Ian said: "I think some of Life On Mars is pretty accurate and one of the things I reflect on is that, 35 years on, this service is unrecognisable from the service that I joined. It's a much better service. It's much better for the people of Britain."
Speaking about diversity, Sir Ian said the Met had made "extraordinary strides" since the death of Stephen Lawrence in 1993. He said a boycott of ethnic recruitment by the Black Police Association left him "saddened" but he was pleased Tarique Ghaffur withdrew claims of racism against him.
Asked if the Met would finally bring charges against those suspected of killing Mr Lawrence, he said: "The case is not closed, that is all I can say. They should be worried that we will pursue them to the ends of their lives."
Reader views (10)
Really good on Boris to get rid of that Blair! Very good riddance.
- Georgie, Islington, London, 01/12/2008 14:48
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I wonder if the rank and file coppers will miss him.....I doubt it.
- S.White, Northampton+London, 01/12/2008 13:10
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My lasting memory of Ian Blair was giving the West Midland a televised dressing down because they did not 'shoot a terror suspect' through the head. This was about three days after he had ordered the public execution of de Menzies. On TV he was gloating over the killing and saying the West Midland's police force should be sacked for subduing a man with tasers instead of shooting him dead. The man was clearly a fool and a barbarian who lived outside the law. The streets are safer now that he is gone.
- Richard Ellis, Cambridge, 28/11/2008 12:59
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Rather trying to defend his wronfgs why doesn't he tell us what he achieved whilst in charge? Oh that's right, he achieved nothing worthwhile.
- Bob, Cheam, 28/11/2008 12:58
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Just go for goodness sake. Take that break you say you need. You'll no doubt be back in the headlines in due course or taking up a handful of consultancy posts (you need that extra income now don't you) or probably made a life peer so you can pontificate to us mere mortals. People like you can never give up the power totally. You all seem to beleive in your own publicity. Pathetic!
- Ranter, Maidstone, UK, 28/11/2008 12:46
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I agree with Luciano Payne, if you ignore the dreadful man then maybe he'll do us all a favour and cease to exist. Ian Blair has been one of the most damaging people to British democracy in the last 100 years, he deserves nothing other contempt.
- Derek, London, 28/11/2008 12:43
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Hear! Hear! Luciano.
- Mike, Wokingham, 28/11/2008 11:59
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This man is a complete idiot, the sooner he shuts up and disappears, the sooner we will be free from his embarrassing antics that have done incalculable damage to policing in Britain.
He is on the record today demanding that the law be changed so that his successors cannot be forced out of office as he was. The law certainly does need changing, but to make it easier to be rid of dangerous incompetents like this heavily politicised NuLiebour puppet.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, 28/11/2008 11:38
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When Ian Blair was first appointed, the first thing he did was call a press conference, followed by a photo opportunity. He then spent he next 6 months as rent-a-quote as he politicised his job way beyond any of his predecessors. If you want to be a political; leader you have to be elected. A head copper is a copper not a politician. The Home Secretary is supposed to do the politics for the police. Maybe it would be a good idea to have elected police chiefs but that is another argument. Blair had to go, he believed his own spin more than a tad too much.
- Antoine Desmoines, London, UK, 28/11/2008 11:08
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Is there any chance you could immediately stop reporting the things that this poisonous buffoon says? Just let him go and hopefully we'll never hear from the arrogant odious oaf again.
- Luciano Payne, Streatham Common, 28/11/2008 09:47
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