Ian Blair

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Sir Ian Blair QPM
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police
In office 2005 – 2008
Preceded by	Sir John Stevens
Succeeded by	Sir Paul Stephenson
Born	19 March 1953 (1953-03-19) (age 56)
Birth name	Ian Warwick Blair
Profession	Police officer

Sir Ian Warwick Blair QPM (born 19 March 1953)^[1] is a former senior British Police Officer who previously held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008, at which time he was the highest ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service. Blair was responsible for the policing of Greater London, with the exception of the City of London, which is the responsibility of a separate force, commanded by its own Commissioner.

On 2 October 2008 Sir Ian Blair announced that he would officially step down from the post on 1 December after disagreements with Boris Johnson, the new Mayor of London. He was succeeded by Sir Paul Stephenson, QPM on 28 January 2009.^[2]

Contents 1 Education and career 1.1 Shooting of Jean Charlese de Menezes 1.2 Operation Finnean 1.3 Bonus pay 1.4 Terrorism 1.5 IT and PR contract controversy 1.6 Race relations 1.7 Secretly taped telephone conversations 1.8 Single police force 1.9 Alleged corruption cover up 1.10 Brian Haw 1.11 Haringey comments 1.12 Differing accounts of the Balcombe Street siege 2 Resignation 2.1 Pay package 3 Ranks and honours 4 References 5 Bibliography 6 External links

[edit] Education and career

After attending Wrekin College, Shropshire and Harvard High School in Los Angeles,^[1] Blair read English Language and Literature at Christ Church, Oxford, and was awarded a Second Class Honours Degree.^{[citation needed]}

Ian Blair originally joined the Metropolitan Police in 1974, under the High Potential Developer Scheme for Graduates. He joined as the rank of PC, based in Soho, London. Eventually over the next 10 years serving as a Sergeant and Inspector in both uniform and CID in central London.^{[citation needed]}

In 1985 he was promoted to Detective Chief Inspector in Kentish Town, North London.^[1] Sir Ian was responsible for identifying the victims of the 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

Blair was formerly Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police under the then Commissioner Baron John Stevens, and before that Chief Constable of Surrey Police.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[3]

[edit] Shooting of Jean Charlese de Menezes

Several months into his tenure, he was heavily involved in an investigation into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by Armed police who mistakenly believed he was a suicide bomber.

After the shooting, he 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".^[4] Blair has since claimed that he made this order in an effort to prevent critical aspects of an ongoing investigation to be leaked. He said, "The IPCC has a duty to provide as much information as it can to members of the deceased's family and I felt that supplying details of tactics or sources to the family of a suspected terrorist could put further lives at risk."^[5]

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1221033/Sir-Ian-Blair-fights-Former-Metropolitan-Police-chief-defends-reign-remarkable-controversial-book.html#ixzz0VjtmJbNi

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.^[6]

After Blair learned that the shooting of de Menezes had been a case of mistaken identity, he briefly considered resigning.^[7]

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.^[8] This allegation was contradicted by New Scotland Yard, and Paddick said that this amounted to accusing him of lying.^[8] 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".^[9]

In June 2006, a leaked copy of the Independent Police Complaints Commission report sparked further criticism and calls to quit.^[10]

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".^[11] Blair rejected a vote of no confidence by the London Assembly a week later.^[12] 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.^[12]

[edit] Operation Finnean

In 2005 and 2006 Sir Ian 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 Tarique Ghaffur's high profile stance on celebrity drug taking, and thereby erode their authority.^[13]

[edit] Bonus pay

Sir Ian 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 Jean Charles de Menezes,^[14] while on a salary of £228,000 and with rank-and-file officers facing the prospect of pay cuts.^[15] Blair wrote an angry letter to his deputy, Paul Stephenson, effectively accusing him of disloyalty after discovering that he had formally waived his own bonus.^[14] Colleagues accused him of behaviour which was “extraordinary”, of being “self-centred” and lacking judgment.^[14]

[edit] Terrorism

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.^[16]

After the failure of the Forest Gate Raid, 2006, several sources once again called on Ian Blair to resign. Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed his support for the Commissioner.^[17]

In a BBC Radio 4 interview Ian Blair stated that Islamic terrorism "is a far graver threat in terms of civilians than either the Cold War or the Second World War".^[18] Civilians killed in World War II totalled around 47 million.

[edit] IT and PR contract controversy

The Metropolitan Police Authority requested on 28 July 2008 that Ian 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 Ian Blair.^[19] 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.^[19]

In October 2008 it was reported that Blair had used public money to pay an estimated £15,000 to Impact Plus, owned by a skiing partner and close friend of Sir Ian for 30 years Andy Miller.^[20][21] Controversially no other company was invited to bid for the public relations contract.^[20] Martin Samphire of Impact Plus became Blair's 'image consultant'.^[20] Impact Plus received more than £3 million of police work from Scotland Yard over the six-year period of Ian Blair's rule.^[20]

On 15 July 2009 Ronnie Flanagan, Chief Inspector of the Constabulary, released his report on the award of contracts to Impact Plus. The report, involving over forty witnesses and conducted over five months, found that there was no wrongdoing or dishonesty on the part of Blair. It read "There is absolutely no evidence of dishonesty on the part of Sir Ian Blair or any other person interviewed or otherwise featured in this investigation... There is no basis upon which police misconduct proceedings (or their 'civilian' equivalent) could be recommended against anyone involved in this investigation. It should be noted that this conclusion has nothing whatever to do with Sir Ian Blair's decision to retire. It would apply with equal force, should he still be serving." ^[22] The Metropolitan Police Authority refused to publish the report, the reason for which is unknown.

[edit] Race relations

In January 2006 he attracted considerable controversy when he described the media as institutionally racist^[23] (a charge that has also been levelled at the police) 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.^[24] 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.^[25]

During a passing-out ceremony of the Metropolitan Police held in December 2006, an unnamed female Muslim police officer refused to shake hands with Ian 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, Ian Blair questioned the validity of her refusal.^[26][27]

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.^[28] 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.^[29] 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.^[30] The National Black Police Association launched a boycott of the police soon after.

[edit] Secretly taped telephone conversations

In March 2006, pressure was again put on Sir Ian to resign after it was revealed that in late 2005 he had secretly taped several telephone conversations, most notably with the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith.^[31] Although Blair received widespread criticism, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, while describing his actions as "totally unacceptable", said it was not a resigning matter.^[32] Much of the latest furore may be attributed to Blair's recent track record of courting controversy with his publicly expressed views. In his defence it has been pointed out that 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.^[33]

[edit] Single police force

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.^[34] 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^[35] and BTP^[36] 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,^[37] and the national review of fraud by the Attorney General,^[38] 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.

[edit] Alleged corruption cover up

On 31 August 2008, The Independent reported that Blair may be facing another inquiry related to an alleged cover-up of the corruption of a senior officer, murdered Special Constable Nisha Patel-Nasri and her partner, turning a blind eye over accusations (in 2003) that the couple were running a prostitution racket. Sir Ian Blair was then in charge of the Metropolitan Police's anti-corruption unit.^[39]

[edit] Brian Haw

Blair received further criticism when 78 police officers were involved in an operation to confiscate placards displayed by protester Brian Haw. After he initially told the Metropolitan Police Authority that the operation had cost £7,200, it later emerged that it had in fact cost £27,000.^[40]

[edit] Haringey comments

In comments to The Times,^[41] Ian Blair claimed that the London Borough of Haringey is a safe enough place to leave doors unlocked. However, Metropolitan Police Authority member Damian Hockney has described Sir Ian's remarks as "truly extraordinary".^[42]

[edit] Differing accounts of the Balcombe Street siege

The Guardian published on 30 March 2007 a story detailing inconsistencies between an account Blair gave of his involvement in the Balcombe Street Siege on the night of 6 December 1975, and the recollections of others involved at the time.^[43] In a 2006 interview, Sir Ian had stated "We turned the corner, and there is the car," he recalled. "It was a very defining moment. I think I spent the next half an hour pretending to be a bush. They got out of the car and started firing at us. It is an interesting experience being fired at when you have absolutely nothing to fire back with ... I loved it. I loved the job."^[43]

Steve Moysey, a US-based British academic, who researched and published a highly detailed history of the IRA campaign in London, and the resulting Balcombe Street siege,^[44] was puzzled by apparent inconsistencies and contacted John Purnell, who with his partner Phil McVeigh, were the first policemen to confront the Balcombe Street gang. Purnell said: "I've never for one second associated Ian Blair with Balcombe Street in any shape or form, and his account of seeing [the terrorists] get out of the car and being shot at as they got out of the car is totally impossible." Blair admitted he had not personally seen the IRA men getting out of their car and opening fire, and stated "I didn't see it and I didn't say I saw it."^[43]

He also added that he had briefly joined the car chase after encountering the IRA car in Park Street near the original shooting. "We turned into Park Street and there were two or three vehicles in front of us going extremely fast." He believed one was the "bandit car" and another may have been a taxi, but Sir Ian and his sergeant were not able to keep up "because we were driving a Hillman Hunter which has a top speed of 25mph minus". The actual top speed of the least powerful Hillman Hunter in 1975 was 83mph and the top speed of a 70s-era taxi was 60mph. According to Purnell: "There was no chase. It was just going along at a normal speed. [The IRA men] actually said later they didn't know they were being followed."^[43][45]

[edit] Resignation

It had been widely reported in the press, as of May 2008, that Ian Blair's contract as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service would not be renewed when it expired in 2010.^[46] Sir Ian was allegedly alerted to this by the Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Len Duvall.

The Telegraph reported that his "job had been in peril since firearms officers mistakenly killed the innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes on 22 July 2005. Just before the mayoral election which established Boris Johnson as the new Mayor of London, Duvall told Sir Ian that his five-year contract would not be renewed upon its expiration.

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.^[47][48]

[edit] Pay package

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.^[49] Blair could receive his £234,000-a-year salary until his contract expires in February 2010.^[50] However, Sir Ian will lose his chauffeur-driven car and use of a £1 million flat in south-west London.^[50]

[edit] Ranks and honours

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009) (Find sources: Ian Blair – news, books, scholar)

• PC Ian Blair (D/Constable, D/Sergeant and D/Inspector) (1974–1985)
• DCI Ian Blair (1985–1988)
• Supt. Ian Blair (1988–1991)
• Ch. Supt. Ian Blair (1991–1994)
• Asst. Ch. Const. Ian Blair (1994–1997)
• Dep. Ch. Const. Ian Blair (1997–1998)
• Chief Constable Ian Blair (1998–1999)
• Chief Constable Ian Blair QPM (1999–2000)
• Dep. Comm. Ian Blair QPM (2000–2003)
• Dep. Comm. Sir Ian Blair QPM (2003–2005)
• Commissioner Sir Ian Blair QPM (2005–2008)

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• Investigating Rape: A New Approach for Police (1985)

[edit] External links

• Sir Ian Blair profile at BBC News

Police appointments
Preceded by Sir John Stevens	Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis 2000–2005	Succeeded by Sir Paul Stephenson
Preceded by Sir John Stevens	Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis 2005–2008	Succeeded by Sir Paul Stephenson