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PM hails Met Chief's contribution  The Prime Minister has paid tribute to the "huge personal contribution" made to policing by Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who has tendered his resignation.
Mr Brown said that Sir Ian had showed strong leadership in combatting terrorism, improving community safety and dealing with specific challenges such as the terrorist attacks of July 2007. The PM said: "Ian Blair has made a huge personal contribution to the safety and security of our country, leading the national police effort against terrorism and the fight against crime, successfully introducing neighbourhood policing in London and cutting crime in the capital very significantly. I congratulate him and his officers, and of course I want to pay particular tribute to Ian's leadership when London experienced the most serious terrorist attacks ever on British soil." Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she had accepted Mr Blair's resignation "with regret" and that he could be "proud of his contribution nationally and locally". Sir Ian had overseen "massive reductions" in crime in London and "transformed the police's capacity to prevent and deal with terrorism throughout Britain", she said. Sir Ian Blair was appointed Metropolitan Police Commissioner in February 2005. Go to the Met Police website (new window) |
