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Scotland Yard chief forced to quit

— Photo: AP

Shown the door: Scotland Yard chief Sir Ian Blair with Mayor of London Boris Johnson (left) in this June 7, 2008 file photo.

LONDON: Ian Blair, the controversial head of Scotland Yard, has been forced to resign following a wave of damaging headlines about his conduct including allegations of racism and his role in the controversy over the way his officers shot dead an innocent Brazilian youth Jean Charles de Menezes in a London Underground station in July 2005 after mistaking him for a terrorist.

Sir Ian was effectively sacked by London’s Tory Mayor and his immediate boss Boris Johnson who told him that he did not enjoy his confidence and the police forced needed new leadership. Mr. Johnson, who never made any secret of his dislike for Sir Ian because of his proximity to the Labour establishment, said: “There comes a time in any organisation when it becomes clear it would benefit from new leadership and clarity of purpose. I believe that time is now.”

Sir Ian made clear that he was not resigning of his own will. He said he was “unable to continue” after being told by Mr. Johnson in a “determined way that he wished there to be a change of leadership”.

“I am resigning not because the pressures of the office and the many stories that surround it are too much. I would have wished to continue to serve Londoners until my time of office expired in February 2010,” he said.

Though Sir Ian had been under pressure for some time, he was reportedly taken by surprise when at a routine meeting on Thursday Mr. Johnson told him to leave. His request that he be allowed to stay on until a successor was found was reportedly rejected and he was given until December to pack his bags.

Sir Ian’s sacking sparked a furious political row with the Labour government at the centre accusing Mr. Johnson of politicising the police force.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith who — under the statute — alone has the powers to appoint and remove the police commissioner complained that she was not consulted.

“The Mayor said on the first day in his job he didn’t feel he had confidence in Sir Ian and that’s why he took the decision to resign,” she said suggesting that he had acted out of political vendetta.

But Mr. Johnson strongly denied the charge.

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