Met chief warns against 'politicisation of policing'

Politicians must give senior officers "breathing room" to run their forces, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner said today.

Sir Ian Blair said frontline policing was a high-risk business and Scotland Yard must "move on" from its "occasional disasters".

Speaking on his last day in office, he said running the £3.5bn organisation of some 50,000 employees has been "99 per cent enjoyable".

But he admitted many will focus on the other 1 per cent, including the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Forest Gate raids and a string of apparent gaffes.

Sir Ian said crime had fallen by almost a fifth during his 46 months in charge, with significant reductions in violent crime and murders as public confidence in police soars.

He said the Met's response to the July 2005 attacks was one of his proudest moments and he considers Mr de Menezes the 53rd victim of the terrorists.

But he warned his successor will not only have to battle the threat of terrorism and spiralling teenage murders, but the increasing politicisation of policing.

Sir Ian said two decades ago high-profile police incidents were once treated as a matter for senior officers alone.

He said: "That is not where we are now. 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 antisocial 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 and we have to accept those and move on."

Sir Ian's comments came after he blasted Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson for forcing him to resign after taking charge of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

He said standing down was the "only honourable course", despite retaining the support of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, when Mr Johnson said he did not support him.

The officer admitted the upper reaches of Britain's largest force have "got a bit like politics" with one side briefing against the other.

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. As I said before, 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."

The senior officer refused to discuss his pay-off, believed to be about £400,000 plus a sizeable pension pot, after his sudden resignation.

He said: "Perhaps that's something I can only describe as being best left to the lawyers."

In his final days in office, Sir Ian returned to Savile Row police station, in London's West End, where he began his career 34 years ago.

Walking through Old Compton Street, in Soho, he said the area was "much rougher" in the early 1970s but officers today were more concerned about weapons.

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".

He said officers today routinely feared facing a knife or gun.

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."

Sir Ian said the July 2005 terrorist attacks, which took place after he had been in office for just five months, were "an extraordinary set of days".

He said: "To see the Met machine moving into operation like that, to have the privilege of going out to the scenes and meeting the men and women from all the emergency services who were doing such a fantastic job.

"I remember meeting a couple of Pcs a couple of days later in Tavistock Square near where the bus blew up.

"It would be fair to say that the dog handlers as a whole are not the most emotional of men, and these guys were almost in tears because of the numbers of members of the public who just kept on coming up to them wanting to shake their hand and say thank you very much."

Speaking about diversity, Sir Ian said the Met had made "extraordinary strides" since the death of Stephen Lawrence in 1993.

Sir Ian said a boycott of ethnic recruitment by the Black Police Association left him "saddened" and he was pleased Tarique Ghaffur withdrew claims of racism against him.

He said: "I am very glad that in the case of Mr Ghaffur he has withdrawn the allegations of discrimination.

"Even my most severe critics would find the charge of racism a little odd. My job is to do the job and not to get involved in personal issues. But I did not think my track record is that of a racist."

Asked if the Met would finally bring charges against those suspected of killing Mr Lawrence, he said: "I know what the prognosis is, but I do not think it is right for me to discuss it. The case is not closed, that is all I can say at the moment.

"They should be worried that we will pursue then to the ends of their lives and we will keep doing that."

Sir Ian said he became more guarded after public comments, such as questioning why the Soham murders was such a big media story, provoked storms of controversy.

He said: "Well I don't think I have learned a lesson in a way. I think I'm a, just a person who has been massively in the public eye.

"I mean no other commissioner has ever had hours of almost every press conference which he has got no control over in the way that I have.

"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."

Speaking about the Soham remark, he added: "I'm actually quite proud of what I 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 said he remained "dreadfully sorry" for the death of Mr de Menezes, but insisted he did not known an innocent man was dead almost 24 hours after the shooting.

He said: "It's a matter of regret to me that I didn't know earlier but I've got to trust, and I do trust, my subordinates and they told me when it was necessary for me to know."

The Commissioner said any successor must be careful to tell Mr Johnson how they expected to run the force and the relationship they will have.

Sir Ian said candidates should be clear where they stand and tell the Mayor "if you don't want that, don't choose me".

He said: "Because it seems to me an unlikely but unfortunate idea if the next one only lasts a couple of years. I think that one would be very bad.

"I can only say that I know that there are a small number of people in this country who are capable of doing this job and have got the experience beforehand that you need before you take up this office.

"I wish them all the best of luck and may the best man, or woman, of whatever colour win."