| The Right Honourable The Lord Blair of Boughton QPM |
|
|---|---|
| Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis | |
| In office 1 January 2005 – 1 December 2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir John Stevens |
| Succeeded by | Sir Paul Stephenson |
| Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis | |
| In office 2000–2005 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir John Stevens |
| Succeeded by | Sir Paul Stephenson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ian Warwick Blair 19 March 1953 Chester, Cheshire, England |
| Profession | Speaker, writer and consultant on strategic policing, leadership and security Police officer (1974–2008) |
| Religion | Anglican[1] |
Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, QPM (born 19 March 1953) is a retired British police officer who held the position of commissioner of police of the metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was the highest ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service.
On 2 October 2008 Blair announced that he would officially step down from the post on 1 December after disagreements with Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. He was succeeded by Sir Paul Stephenson on 28 January 2009.[2]
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Blair was born in Chester to Jim and Sheila in 1953. His father spent most of his career working for Lever Brothers, eventually rising to manage the dock at Port Sunlight in Merseyside. His mother was from Sheffield and her father had made a living as a steel merchant until he suffered major losses in the Great Depression in the 1930s. Both Blair and his brother, six years his senior, were sent to independent school at the expense of one of their father's brothers, who was a successful doctor. Blair's brother, Sandy, left school early to work for a solicitors' firm.[3]
Blair was sent to Wrekin College in Wellington, Shropshire. Jim had been determined that his son would become a doctor—as his father (Ian's grandfather) had been. However, Blair rebelled against his father and refused to take O-Level biology, knowing it would disqualify him from a potential medical career. He initially had no aspiration to go to university, as neither of his parents nor his brother had had a university education. However, he was inspired by a teacher at Wrekin to apply to Christ Church, Oxford.[3]
Blair joined the Metropolitan Police in 1974, under the High Potential Developer Scheme for Graduates. He joined as the rank of Constable, based in Soho, London. Eventually over the next 10 years serving as a sergeant and inspector in both uniform and CID in central London.[4]
In 1985 Blair was promoted to detective chief inspector in Kentish Town, North London. He was responsible for identifying the victims of the 1987 King's Cross fire. In 1988 he reached the rank of superintendent, heading a project designed to reorganise criminal investigations. He obtained the rank of chief superintendent in 1991, as staff officer in HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.[4]
In 1994, he transferred to Thames Valley Police as assistant Chief Constable, later becoming deputy chief constable in 1997, and during the same year took charge of policing the protests over the construction of the Newbury bypass. He was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 1999 and received a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours, 2003, for his service.[4]
Blair was formerly deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police under the then commissioner Sir John Stevens, and before that chief constable of Surrey Police.[4]
While serving as deputy commissioner, he gained a reputation for being a "thinking man's policeman". He called for more female, ethnic minority and gay recruits. In 2002 he publicly stated that "Society cannot duck the fact that most muggers are black", and in response the National Black Police Association stated that black recruits could be deterred by such comments.[5]
Several months into his tenure, Jean Charles de Menezes was shot and killed by armed police who mistakenly believed he was a suicide bomber.
After the shooting Blair telephoned the Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and wrote a letter to the Home Office stating that "the shooting that has just occurred at Stockwell is not to be referred to the IPCC and that they will be given no access to the scene at the present time".[6]
Blair also claimed that a warning had been issued prior to the shooting. The IPCC held an investigation into what later turned out to be a false statement, and into allegations of attempts to delay an inquiry. On 2 August 2007 the IPCC announced its findings that the allegations against Blair couldn't be substantiated, instead placing the blame for misleading the public on Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, who had failed to report his suspicions that an innocent man had been killed, and had released contradictory statements to the press.[7]
After Blair learned that the shooting of de Menezes had been a case of mistaken identity, he briefly considered resigning.[8]
During the investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into the wrongful shooting, one of his Deputy Assistant Commissioners Brian Paddick stated that a member of Blair's private office team had believed the wrong man had been targeted just six hours after the shooting.[9] This allegation was contradicted by New Scotland Yard, and Paddick said that this amounted to accusing him of lying.[9] On 28 March 2006, Paddick accepted a statement from the Metropolitan Police that it "did not intend to imply" a senior officer had misled the probe into the shooting and that "any misunderstanding is regretted".[10]
In June 2006, a leaked copy of the Independent Police Complaints Commission report sparked further criticism and calls to quit.[11]
On 1 November 2007, a jury convicted the Metropolitan Police of violating health and safety laws, highlighting 19 "catastrophic errors" but said it was an "isolated breach under quite extraordinary circumstances".[12] Blair rejected a vote of no confidence by the London Assembly a week later.[13] Blair continued to receive the support of the Metropolitan Police Authority, the head of which said that he would not have accepted any resignation offered by Blair.[13]
In 2005 and 2006 Blair was involved in Operation Finnean, a £280,000 investigation into supermodel Kate Moss's alleged possession and distribution of a Class A drug. It has been alleged that the operation was systematically sabotaged by officers eager to undermine Blair and Ghaffur's high profile stance on celebrity drug taking, and thereby erode their authority.[14]
In 2007 Blair was criticised by senior colleagues at New Scotland Yard after he sought a £25,000 performance bonus during criminal proceedings over the shooting of de Menezes,[15] while on a salary of £228,000 and with rank-and-file officers facing the prospect of pay cuts.[15][16]
In November 2005, a controversy about detention without charge proposals led to Blair becoming involved in allegations of the police being "politicised", when he and other senior police officers were known to have lobbied MPs to support Government proposals to hold terrorist suspects for 90 days.[17]
After the failure of the Forest Gate Raid, 2006, several sources once again called on Blair to resign. Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed his support for the Commissioner.[18]
In a BBC Radio 4 interview Blair stated that Islamic terrorism "is a far graver threat in terms of civilians than either the Cold War or the Second World War".[19] Civilians killed in World War II totaled around 47 million.
The Metropolitan Police Authority requested on 28 July 2008 that Blair face an inquiry over a series of IT contracts with the Metropolitan Police worth £3 million won by Impact Plus, a consultancy owned by Andy Miller, who is a long-time friend of Blair.[20] The commissioner denied any wrongdoing and said that he was "open and straightforward in informing both the Metropolitan Police Service and the MPA about [his] relationship [with Miller]". He said that he had set out in writing his connection with Miller and had no part in the evaluation process. It has however been reported in the press that on one occasion another company was turned down for a contract won by Impact Plus, despite its bid being a third of the winning offer.[20]
In January 2006 he described the media as institutionally racist[21] for its allegedly unbalanced coverage of crimes against white people, such as in the murder of Tom ap Rhys Pryce as compared to that given to crimes against those from ethnic minorities.[22] As an example, he had referred to the murder of two young girls in Soham in 2002. He said "almost nobody" understood why it became such a big story. However, he was forced to issue a hurried apology to the parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.[23]
During a passing-out ceremony of the Metropolitan Police held in December 2006, an unnamed female Muslim police officer refused to shake hands with Blair on religious grounds. She also refused to have a picture taken with him, for fear of its being used for "propaganda purposes". According to Scotland Yard, Blair questioned the validity of her refusal.[24][25]
In June 2008, Commander Shabir Hussain alleged being repeatedly rejected for promotion owing to racial discrimination, explicitly suggesting that Ian Blair was using his influence to favour a "golden circle" of white officers and to turn down applications made by black and Asian candidates, who were better qualified for the promotion.[26] In another case, the country's senior Asian police officer Tarique Ghaffur was considering commencing an employment tribunal over being sidelined by Sir Ian Blair in Olympics security planning, and being asked to keep quiet about his concerns about the new 42 days detention laws for terror suspects.[27] In a subsequent press conference, Ghaffur claimed to have been victimised in a face-to-face meeting with Blair, who threatened to remove him from his post if he went ahead with his legal action.[28]
In March 2006, it was revealed that in late 2005 he had secretly taped several telephone conversations, most notably with the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, although he received a degree of critical commentary, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, while describing his actions as "totally unacceptable", said it was not a resigning matter.[29][30] The recording was not illegal and it was said to be simply to enable an accurate record to be taken for him in the absence of a note taker.[31]
Blair has stated that he would prefer to see a single police force for the whole of London, an opinion shared by Ken Livingstone, with the functions of both the City of London Police and the British Transport Police absorbed by the Metropolitan Police.[32] Already, the duties and functions of one police force (the Royal Parks Constabulary) have been taken by the Met. However, both the City of London Police[33] and BTP[34] have expressed their strong objections to this proposal, while the Home Office has stated that reorganisation of policing in London is not on their agenda. The publication of reviews into the operation of the British Transport Police,[35] and the national review of fraud by the Attorney General,[36] combined with the ending of the police merger proposals for England and Wales, appear to rule out any possibility of police mergers in London for the foreseeable future.
In 2006 in comments to the Times newspaper, Blair claimed that the London Borough of Haringey is a safe enough place to leave doors unlocked. Metropolitan Police Authority member Damian Hockney described Sir Ian's remarks as "truly extraordinary".[37]
In May 2008, it was reported in the press that Blair's contract as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service would not be renewed when it expired in 2010.[38] On 2 October 2008, Blair announced he would resign as Metropolitan Police Commissioner, with effect from 1 December 2008. He blamed a lack of support from London mayor Boris Johnson, saying that "without the mayor's backing I do not think I can continue". Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to Blair's service. Sir Paul Stephenson took over on 28 November 2008.[39][40] Blair is entitled to a full police pension, estimated to be worth about £160,000 per year, based on his £240,000 commissioner’s salary.[41] Blair was eligible to continue to receive his £234,000-a-year salary until his contract expired in February 2010.[42] However, he lost his chauffeur-driven car and use of a £1 million flat in south-west London.[42]
In May 2010, Blair was appointed as a crossbench life peer, and became Baron Blair of Boughton in the County of Cheshire.[43]
He has subsequently served on the Commission on Assisted Dying run by Demos, and spoken out in favour of changing the law on assisted dying.[44]
The various ranks that Blair would have held between 1974 and 1985 are Police Constable, Police Sergeant and Inspector. Although briefly mentioned in his autobiography, Policing Controversy, there is no authoritative document in the public domain at the time of writing that shows when he was appointed to these ranks. A single photograph in the book shows him as a uniformed Sergeant in 1977.[4]
| Police appointments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir John Stevens |
Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis 2000–2005 |
Succeeded by Sir Paul Stephenson |
| Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis 2005–2008 |
||