SIR IAN Blair’s position as Metropolitan Police Commissioner looked increasingly fragile after political support for him appeared to fade last night.

The beleaguered head of Scotland Yard received only lukewarm support from Tony McNulty, the Police Minister, as it emerged that the inquiry into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes will disclose serious blunders and mistakes by the force.

As the row over the anti-terror raid in Forest Gate in East London again focused attention on the Metropolitan Police’s anti-terror tactics, Mr McNulty conspicuously failed to give Sir Ian an assurance that his job would be safe if the inquiries into the shooting of Mr de Menezes were highly critical of the Yard.

Mr McNulty was asked whether Sir Ian could continue as Metropolitan Police Commissioner if he was strongly criticised in two investigations being conducted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the shooting of the Brazilian at Stockwell Underground station in South London. Mr McNulty said “I think we need to wait and see.” He added that he would not speculate on the contents of the reports being prepared by the IPCC.

Mr McNulty then offered his support “at this stage” to Sir Ian but refused to speculate further.

Mr McNulty’s words were seen by some politicians as a deliberate attempt by the Home Office to distance itself from Sir Ian after 12 months during which he has been at the centre of a number of embarrassing controversies.

One senior politican said: “That is no endorsement”. He added: “I think Sir Ian’s position is untenable.”

Mr McNulty made his intervention following the leak of the findings of the IPCC inquiry into the shooting of Mr de Menezes who was mistaken for a suicide bomber.

According to the News of the World, the inquiry found that senior Scotland Yard officers already knew that Mr deMenezes was innocent when Sir Ian told a news conference that the shooting was directly linked to a series of attempted suicide bombings in the capital the previous day.

The paper quoted an “IPCC-linked source” as saying that there was a belief in Whitehall that Sir Ian had not been told immediately because he was “notorious for taking bad news very badly”. The source was also quoted as telling the paper that the inquiry had found that Sir Ian tried to prevent the IPCC from investigating, citing the Prime Minister’s name in his support.

The IPCC, which took legal action to try to prevent the paper publishing its report, said yesterday that it did not represent “an accurate or fair description” of its findings, which have yet to be published.

But the claims added to the pressure on Sir Ian whose force is facing criticism over the failure of a huge police operation on a house in Forest Gate to find any evidence of terrorist activity.

Two brothers arrested in the operation, Abul Kahar Kalam and Abul Koyair Kalam, were released on Friday night after being held for a week under anti-terrorism powers.

Sources at the Metropolitan Police Authority predicted tough questioning for Sir Ian at his next public encounter with them on June 29.

“There was a cock-up at Forest Gate,” an insider on the body, which scrutinises Scotland Yard, said. “I just hope he can prove that the police are prepared to acknowledge their mistakes and learn from them and so get some credibility back with the communities they have to operate with to make sure Londoners are secure.”

Mr McNulty refused to be drawn on a reports that police had expressed reservations about the Forest Gate operation because of doubts about the credibility of MI5’s intelligence.

Last night David Winnick, a senior Labour MP on the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said that the leaking of the report would make Sir Ian’s position more difficult.

He said: “This is another rather sorry incident regarding the tragic shooting of a totally innocent person.

“Sir Ian Blair, either through ill luck or incompetence within the leadership as a whole of the Metropolitan Police, has been under serious criticism. This is not going to help him.”

Shahid Malik, another Labour member of the committee, said: “Nobody can walk away from what has happened over the last year without taking some reponsibility.”

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