Sir Ian Blair to escape action over £3m Met contracts
SIR IAN BLAIR will escape any possible disciplinary action for awarding £3million of Met Police contracts to a friend as he will leave office before an inquiry is complete, it emerged today.
The Met police chief, 55, will step down on Friday, by which time he will no longer be able to face action over business deals involving his friend Andy Miller. The final report of the inquiry will be examined by the Home Office and Metropolitan Police Authority before a decision is made.
But there is little chance of this happening before Friday, the commissioner's last day before he retires.
Sir Ian is expected to escape the investigation with a slap on the wrist for his role in the awarding of contracts to Mr Miller's company. However, the inquiry is expected to highlight serious errors of judgment on the part of the Commissioner. If he had remained in office the outcome of the investigation would have led to renewed calls for him to resign and some insiders say it would have proved extremely damaging.
The key criticism centres on Sir Ian's role in awarding the contracts to his friend. He is believed to have announced an interest in Mr Miller's company at an MPA meeting, when the decision was due to be made. But the Standard understands he then remained in the room and even made comments during the decision-making process.
Sir Ian, who has been interviewed by detectives from Surrey Police and had documents taken from his office during the investigation, has denied any wrongdoing. But leaked emails have revealed the situation was so dire that Kit Malthouse, deputy Mayor for policing, discussed suspending the Commissioner.
The documents show discussions between MPA officials about pressing "the nuclear button". The option was not taken but when Mayor Boris Johnson became chairman of the MPA last month, Sir Ian was forced to announce he would step down.
He is now in line for a £1million pay-off, and will host a retirement party celebrating his two-and-a-half years in charge of the force on Thursday.
Sir Ian also wants to pay a leading artist £10,000 for a retirement portrait of himself before his last day.
It is a tradition that commissioners have their portraits painted before they leave office, but usually at a much lower price. Lord Stevens, Sir Ian's predecessor, is said to have spent only £1,000 of taxpayers' money on his picture, by artist Sarah Bryant.
A number of officials want the commissioner to agree to a similarly modest budget. The MPA has confirmed that it intends to pay for a portrait.
