Friday 3 October 2008

A more balanced appraisal of the Ian Blair legacy is needed

GREEN LEFT PRESS RELEASE; for immediate release.


The resignation of Ian Blair as Metropolitan Police Commissioner is fast becoming the second round of the Mayoral campaign. This is clouding judgement on Blair’s successes and failures. We have heard about his achievements in respect to reducing crime.


What we are not seeing is the other side of a tumultuous period in office.


Ian Blair was initially appointed as a reforming police commander but then came Stockwell. As the hearing continues into the shooting, we are reminded about the cover up and attempted smears of De Menezes. Surely the time for resignation should have been then, in accepting responsibility as the top police officer in the capital.


There is deep disquiet about racism in the police with senior BME officers taking action and the Black Police Officers Association refusing to cooperate with the Met. In a cosmopolitan city where one in four inhabitants come from an ethnic minority background, this issue should not be swept under the carpet.


Joseph Healey, Co-Convenor of Green Left, a strand within the Green Party of England and Wales said “like the New Labour administration which appointed him, he promised much and delivered little. Systemic problems in the Met continue while cosmetic changes have been carried out under his watch.”




Contact:
Farid Bakht
Media Relations
Green Left
faridbakht@yahoo.com
j-j@freezone.co.uk

1 comment:

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