+++ Boris Fires Blair +++
Well, not strictly “fired”, but as close as you could get.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7648664.stm
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has announced his resignation after three years in the job.
He said London mayor Boris Johnson, who took over as chairman of the police authority on Wednesday, had told him he wanted a “change in leadership”.
Sir Ian said that “without the mayor’s backing I do not think I can continue in the job”.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said deputy commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson will take over as acting head of the Met.
Sir Ian has faced criticism over the racism row involving the Met’s most senior Asian officer Tarique Ghaffur.
There have also been questions about his handling of events surrounding the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.
The Brazilian was shot on the London Underground in July 2005 by police marksmen, who had mistaken him for a suicide bomber.
Sir Ian has denied any wrongdoing over an inquiry into the use of public money to pay a close friend to advise him.
UPDATE: Boris told him to go.
