SIR Ian Blair has admitted misleading MPs by overstating the gravity of the terror threat to Britain.

The gaffe-prone Metropolitan police commissioner said he had been forced to clarify his claims about the number of serious terrorist plots Britain had faced since 2005.

Blair gave evidence to MPs in support of 42-day detention, stating to a Commons committee that police had disrupted “something like 12” serious terrorist plots since the 2005 London bombings. However, Scotland Yard now accepts that the true number is six. The Met chief gave his testimony on April 22 to a committee scrutinising the government’s counter-terrorism bill. One of his deputies who accompanied him said 15 plots had been foiled since the London bombings, prompting banner headlines.

Blair’s admission that he — albeit unwittingly — exaggerated the extent of the terror threat places him in difficulty because he was giving evidence on the government’s proposals to detain terror suspects for 42 days without charge. Ministers have used his backing for the plan to strengthen their case.

He told the MPs that “the growth in the number of plots” was one of the main reasons why “sooner or later we are going to need 42 days”.

Patrick Mercer, a Tory MP who sits on the parliamentary scrutiny committee, questioned how Blair could make a mistake on such a controversial bill. “How much confidence does that give you in him?”

Scotland Yard said Blair accepted he had made a mistake. His office had contacted the committee’s clerk to clarify the error as soon as it became known.

It said: “Any suggestions that the commissioner or assistant commissioner Bob Quick deliberately misled the committee whilst giving evidence on April 22 is completely wrong. A corrective statement was issued to the Press Association.”

Times Recommends

• Oh no, Mr Darling: you have failed
• BBC survives dogfight over Kennel Club expose
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone