Sir Ian Blair again

[Dom Tuk]

Is an apology good enough?. What about the breaches of the data protection act!!. Does he not have to explain why he taped Lord Goldsmith and some IPCC officers. Will they close ranks and protect their own again?

[Drisgirl]

He's probably fed up with being misquoted.If the people have nothing to hide then there shoudnt be a problem.

Was it it subterfuge or did he make them aware by placing the recorder on the table?I didnt quite catch if that was mentioned.

Anyway he probably gets his phone tapped - there is so much that goes on we dont know about.

[andy-hughes]

It appears that Sir Ian has not broken any legal law by taping a private conversation, but the morality od his position is highly dubious.

This, in addition to he previous gaffes suggests that he is a loose cannon, and the government would restore what is already seriously shakey faith in the Met. by ditching him.

It also appears that the Met. themselves have lost faith in their leader, and see him as a cross between a paranoid liability and a bad joke.

Time to cut your losses people.

[raysparx]

He is a Liability,remember the way he went on about the Soham murders? if he wanted to tape these calls why didn't he tell the people involved ?

Bring back Dixon of Dock Green!

[Drisgirl]

I am going to be controversial now - but I would bet my last penny no-one remembered what he said in the wake of the Soham murders and other supposed 'gaffes'.

As usual the media have it in for him - just watched ITV news - and its them who are dredging up the past.

Trial by media yet again!!!

[andy-hughes]

I do - he said that the British media were institutionally racist - a pot and kettle interface if ever there was one - and he said that if the victims had been black, the coverage would not have been as extensive.

Possibly Sir Ian has a gap in his synapes where the Damilola Taylor media coverage should be, but that was an ill-informed, insensitive crass and disgraceful observation for anyone to make - but for someone his his position, it is simply unforgivable.

[stevie_c2it]

Me too. Someone in his position needs to be sqeaky, otherwise it becomes a case of 'Do as I say, not as I do'.

How can respect for the institutions of law and order and justice be maintained, when one of the most senior figures is a politically installed, unethical idiot.

[raysparx]

Well said andy-hughes it really is time to get rid,the bloke is a buffoon!

[Drisgirl]

Well not everyone would remember The past 'gaffes' should have been dealt with at the time.Perhaps then he would not now be in the position of Police Commissioner

Its almost like the media are supporting this with previous 'errors of judgement'.

This should stand alone to be judged and as such I dont see any problem with what he did.He only recorded a conversation - he didnt as far as I am aware manipulate the conversation to implicate anyone.

Yes - the knives are out - a good old witch hunt.

[Drisgirl]

Oh and as much as it pains me to say it although he was misguided in the remarks he made - re media coverage and the difference in skin colour - he is right.

The cricket team and how they are doing will always take precedence over the news there has been a plane crash,which has killed 138 people in some African state.You cant argue with that.Life is cheap in the Third World

I cant believe some people are so blinkered and led by the media (the ace manipulators).They are so powerful in this country they could bring anyone down and only astute people who have their own minds and memories would be exempt.The majority sadly dont.

[andy-hughes]

OK Drisgirl, I see why you argue your point but - Blair he didn't 'only record a conversation' - he as Head of the Met. Police recorded an 'in confidence' conversation with a senior Government official, whom, had he known he was being recorded, may well not have said some of the things he said.

The point is not that Blair recorded the conversation, it's that he did it without telling the other party he was doing it - that is underhand at best, and borderline illegal at worst, and shows a serious lack of judgement from someone who is absolutely in a position to know, and behave better.

Add that to his previous conduct - and people in positions of that much power do have to account for their actions in their official capacity - and he is demonstrating that he is unfit for his office - either he is paranoid and losing his grip, or he is colossally arogant and feels he is above the law - either of which means he has to go - tomorrow if possible.

[Lonnie]

To put it simply, he got the position because he's a 'Tony Crony', and he'll get away with this, as he has the others, for the same reason.

[Scotman84]

There is NO breach of the Data Protection Act ! In fact there is NO breach of ANY law. This man is being pilloried by the press for some reason. In the case of the guy who was shot, his senior officers gave him wrong info, in the case of the Soham murders, he was right to say that one crime is no worse than another, just cos it involved kids.

I, as an individual, have the right to tape phone coversations if the resulting tape is for my own use - what is all the fuss about?

[noxlumos]

I have to say I tape some phone conversations as do most help lines, utility companies, NHS Direct etc that you call and we all do it for one reason to protect our own backsides. In the event of a conspiracy to get him out he might have thought it would be useful to keep his own private record of what was said by some people on some subjects.It gives the man leverage.I doubt that he rose to the position he's in now by being a thoroughly nice honest chap and i imagine that he'as very clever and devious indeed as are most powerful men. I don't personally like him or think he is in the right job, but you can't really knock him for a bit of self preservation and he HAS BROKEN NO LAW. Surely as he's a Copper that's the crux of it.

[jno]

if you have any dealings with a member of the Blair government, keeping a record of it is a very good idea indeed, DT! Lord Goldsmith was the chap who gave advice about the legality of the Iraq invasion, wasn't he? Very sensible of Ian Blair.

[bernardo]

Is an apology good enough?.
No

Does he not have to explain why he taped Lord Goldsmith and some IPCC officers.
Yes

Will they close ranks and protect their own again?
Yes

...but he will be forced to resign anyway eventually - mainly because of the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes.

[Drisgirl]

Tragic case but Britain was on Red Alert.

You know what,in this country you are damned if you do and damned if you dont.

Who will resign because of the 52 victims of 7/7 which pre-empted the point you are making?

Anyway this is about a taped conversation and if I were him I would have done so as well.He should look out for the knife which is shortly going to stab him in the back.

R.I.P the officers who have innocently lost their lives protecting this country.

[Dom Tuk]

where do you get the idea that he was taping the conversations at home. He was not, he was doing it in his office on crown property using HM equipment. So the data protection act applies. The only reason it came out was because after the brazilians killing the IPCC looked at all the tapes and they found this, including the taping of their own heads conversations. Apology my airse

[stevie_c2it]

Damned if you do and damned if you don�t?

Yes. Damned if you shoot an innocent member of the public, following a �comedy of errors� in observation, identification and then execution.

In my place of work (and most other peoples too, I expect), I am accountable for my mistakes, if a drop a serious enough �clanger� I could expect to lose my job, or be asked to resign (How about yours?).

Not so apparently, in the Great British police force anymore. Which is lovely if you happen to be either Cressida Dick, or Sir Ian Blair.

Dammed if you don�t?

Let�s see. A senior member of our Countries police force lied to the people he is charged to protect, lied about what happened, and lied about the circumstances surrounding a death. Oh, Yes. Damned alright.

Instead of this simplistic �knee jerk� rejection of �its all the medias fault� lets blame them for this �witch hunt�, why don�t we spare a thought for the competent, hard working police officers in our country, who have to bare the brunt of the growing sense of mistrust people feel in our institutions of law and order, thanks to a small number of incompetent political puppets.

What about the daily levels of crime that go unpunished because, either people don�t believe they will see justice, or don�t want to give evidence because they have no faith in the judicial system? What about the real fear that people have for there safety or protection should they �stand up� for what�s right?. How can we hope to tackle crime (and other ills) in our society, if our officials in �high office� are exempt from setting examples, or standards, or telling the truth, or doing there job competently?

[stevie_c2it]

The police force should be independent and politically neutral in any democracy (Ian Blair is neither), anything less is �sleepwalking� towards a dictatorship.

A society where the general public have learned to be cynical of politics and politicians, where they have no expectations of �fair play� from either the forces of law and order, or the system of justice. Where expectations of ethics or morality in our �elders and betters� is non-existent. A society rather like the one we are creating currently.

Time to take it back and demand higher standards from our civil servants and elected officials.
Blair out! (Take your pick!).

[nedflanders]

Yada yada yada. He rightly critises the media for their selfish choice reporting of murders and then shock horror, the media empire strike back and will not rest until he is sacked. Once again this will prove that in our country the media are all too powerful and need to be curtailed. Rupert Murdoch is probably in a greater position of power than Tony Blair!