£330k down the drain! May bans Boris from using his water cannon
BORIS Johnson was left humiliated yesterday after Theresa May blocked his bid to let police use water cannon on London’s streets.
His application to allow them on the British mainland for the first time was scuppered by the Home Secretary – seen as a potential Tory leadership rival.
She concluded they could leave targets blind or with serious spinal injury, make riots worse and reduce trust in the police.
The decision left the London Mayor facing serious questions about why he spent £218,000 on three 25-year-old second-hand German water cannon before getting approval to use them.
Their cost has reached £329,000 once maintenance, transport and officer training is factored in, according to BBC London.
In January last year Mr Johnson said police should be able to ‘get medieval’ on troublemakers to avoid a repeat of the 2011 riots. However an expert review concluded that the Ziegler Wasserwerfer 9000 he bought had ‘serious faults’ and required 67
‘Theresa? She’s not my boss’
adjustments and repairs to make them operational. The model of cannon is being phased out in Germany after a 66year-old protester was left blind when he was hit in the face by a jet of water.
Despite the damning evidence presented yesterday Mr Johnson insisted he would continue to train officers to use them. He raised the prospect of a fresh application if there was serious disorder in London.
But Home Office sources made clear the ruling was based on concerns around the specific machines – making any further application futile.
Mrs May made the announcement in the House of Commons with Mr Johnson, the new MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, sitting behind her. The pair are seen as possible future rivals to take over from David Cameron as Conservative leader.
The Home Secretary said the situation in London was different to that in Northern Ireland, where water cannon have long been used to quell riots. She said the machines bought by the mayor posed ‘a series of direct and indirect medical risks’ and could undermine police ‘legitimacy’.
Mrs May said in areas with a history of social unrest or mistrust of the police, water cannon could be ‘entirely counterproductive’ – a conclusion backed by police chiefs.
Following the announcement, Mr Johnson cut short an interview on Sky News after it was suggested he use the cannon to wash his hair. He said: ‘All suggestions gratefully received but if you don’t mind I’ve got to give an interview to somebody else.’
He also bridled at the suggestion that Mrs May was his ‘boss’, saying: ‘I don’t know why you say that she’s my boss. She’s certainly the Home Secretary.’
The second- hand machines bought for the Met were described in the Commons as ‘antiquated, dangerous and expensive’.
Incredibly, signs warning onlook- ers of the dangers were still in German and the vehicles that carried the cannon were too polluting to be allowed into London’s Low Emission Zone, which covers most of the capital.
Sir Jon Murphy, chief constable of Merseyside, said using water cannon was ‘a tactic closely associated with the suppression of political protest in Egypt’ and would damage relations with the public.