Boris Johnson's elbows

by RAY FLEMING
WHO polices the police? The question is no more easily answered than an enquiry as to who judges the judges. But it was brought into prominence yesterday by London's deputy mayor for policing, Mr Kit Malthouse, who claimed in an interview with The Guardian that he and Mayor Boris Johnson “have our hands on the tiller” of the Metropolitan Police and have “elbowed the Home Office out of the picture.” Naturally both the Met and the Home Office said they didn't know what Mr Malthouse is talking about because nothing has changed in respect of policy and power. It may be true that nothing has been put in writing but the very fact that Boris Johnson decided to take the chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority when he became Mayor has inevitably meant that there is a more direct political voice in the running of the Met than previously. Mr Malthouse argues that this is a sensible change because elected politicians know what the public wants better than unelected coppers. In fact, policing priorities have always been influenced by the Home Office although police chiefs up and down the country have rightly insisted on maintaining their “operational independence.” It is very clear that too many people are entitled to have influence on the police: the Home Office, elected mayors, city councils, the Metropolitan Police Authority in London, and regulatory bodies such as the Police Complaints Commission. The media and the public are also effective. But fewer cooks would improve this broth.