Boris Johnson chatting about BBM, Keith Vaz demonstrating his retro kitsch by dropping ‘keep calm and carry on’ into conversation – it could have been another unintentionally hilarious case of politicians casually trying to demonstrate how groovy and hip they are. Instead, it was the Home Affairs Select Committee hearing this morning.
There’s a chance Boris might have a few lairy BBMs waiting for him from David Cameron after the committee, if they’ve ever got so friendly as to exchange pins (presumably if they haven’t it’s because of incidents like this). Although the mood at the hearing was lighter than might have been expected, Boris still made a point of distancing himself from Cameron on several key issues.
First, the matter of disallowing foreign candidates to apply for the role of Met Commissioner was brought up, with Johnson reaffirming that he didn’t see why foreigners should need to apply, given the quality of police officers in Britain. It is well known that Cameron was hoping for US ‘supercop’ Bill Bratton to take the job.
Secondly, the mayor proceeded to make a point of saying that he supported the Met in the face of Cameron’s criticism that there weren’t enough officers on the streets when the riots began, stating that with hindsight these comments were easy to make.
Then came his assertion that he did not believe that water cannons and rubber bullets were a necessary measure, when Cameron had clearly stated to the contrary.
Just when Cameron might have got off the hook, at the very last minute the issue of social media was bought up. When asked whether it would be necessary to shut down social media during times of civil unrest, Boris Johnson gave a resounding negative. What shade do you think Dave turned? Aubergine? Parma violet? Perhaps a nice plum?
It wasn’t just Boris who was firm on the social media issue – Tim Godwin, acting commissioner of the Met, also said that there was no need to shut down social media, not least because it could actually be detrimental to the police. They themselves have also been using Twitter to communicate with the public.
All in all the mood was pretty light at the Committee, given the subject matter. The questions faced by Tim Godwin and assistant commissioner Lynne Owens were fairly sympathetic. The main theme of the questions was whether the Met felt that they had dealt with the issue adequately.
Of course it was accepted that the issue could, and probably should, have been dealt with differently, with more police officers out on the street. But as was said many, many, MANY times during the committee, hindsight is a wonderful thing.
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