Chief Constables of the Met are appointed by the Home Secretary, after consultation with appropriate bodies to sound out views, but clearly the job is the Home Secretary's. Yesterday, the first thing the Home Secretary knew of Sir Ian's departure was when he told her, 'I have been effectively dismissed by the Mayor'.
What then happened was surprising in a way. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary who appointed Sir Ian, rather than becoming righteously indignant and swearing to come to his aid, tamely said 'Ah all right then - sorry to lose you' and let him go. Now it could be that she saw a major row between London's elected Conservative Mayor and a Labour Government as being more damaging than simply to allow Sir Ian to leave - but that would be somewhat cowardly, I think. An alternative option is that she silently heaved a sigh of relief because Johnson had done the dirty work for her - and that would be very cynical.
It is true that in the light of the Menezes shooting in 2005, the swirling accusations of racism around Sir Ian's head in his dealings with a senior Asian policeman and rumours of his planting contracts with friends, the Chief Constable was becoming something of a liability, even distrusted by his own senior officers.
But constitutionally, what has happened is rather disturbing. I am no friend of the Tories but I don't believe Johnson took the action simply to prove his own machismo. I do believe he thought the decision was the right one for the people of London. However he has highlighted a big hole in the area of appropriate responsibility. This situation could get worse if more elected Mayors become a feature of British towns and cities and there is a growing demand for local accountability.
Johnson has demanded that the actions of the Chief Constable should be the responsibility of the elected politicians of London, not the national politicians in Whitehall. Whether this will come to pass or not, a series of urgent steps needs to be taken to prevent a repetition of this. The role of Metropolitan Police chief is too important to be a political football and, in the short term at least, Government ministers and the London Mayor need to get together and agree a plan of action in the event of unhappiness by either party. These unilateral actions cannot continue or else good policemen, well qualified for the post, will have serious concerns about accepting it if the ability to do their job is handicapped by angry differences between Westminster and City Hall
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