THE Prime Minister gave his public backing yesterday to Sir Ian Blair, the beleaguered Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, as Conservative MPs tabled a motion calling for Britain’s most senior policeman to be dismissed.

News of the motion came as Sir Ian should have been preparing to mark today the anniversary of his first working day as Commissioner. Instead Scotland Yard found itself denying a claim that senior officers were in revolt over his failings.

Tony Blair’s spokesman said that the Prime Minister recognised “that the job of the Metropolitan Commissioner is not only a highly important one but also a difficult one and he supports Sir Ian Blair in carrying out that job”.

Asked whether Mr Blair was concerned that Sir Ian had run into more difficulties than his predecessor, Sir John Stevens, the spokesman added: “He faced difficult times too. It is just that kind of job.

“It would be wrong for anyone to think that the Prime Minister was anything other than fully understanding of the difficulties of that job.”

In an early day motion, however, three Conservative backbenchers urged Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, to get rid of Sir Ian. Early motions are a mechanism for raising issues without normally provoking a debate.

Sir Ian prompted outrage when he accused the media last week of being institutionally racist in reporting crimes by saying that almost no one could understand why the Soham murders had attracted so much publicity.

The motion was drawn up by Rob Wilson, MP for Reading East, David Kawczynski, (Shrewsbury & Atcham) and Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead).

It said: “This House notes with concern the recent remarks of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, belittling the appalling crimes committed at Soham; condemns his thoughtless pursuit of self-publicity; and calls on the Home Secretary to remove him from his position as Metropolitan Police Commissioner.”

Mr Wilson said: “I want to see the most senior police officer in England concentrating on catching criminals and effectively deterring crime and not continually grandstanding in the media. Since taking over as Commissioner, Sir Ian has courted media coverage with a series of stunts that have damaged his credibility and, more seriously, the confidence of the wider public and even his own officers.”

Allies and enemies agree that Sir Ian has become the most high-profile Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police for decades.

No other senior police officer can claim to have given the Dimbleby lecture, appeared on Question Time on BBC One and delivered a controversial call for national police reform in his first months in office.

Sir Ian gave a lecture on social change in the first week of his tenure and since then has spoken at Thames Valley University, the London Chamber of Commerce and a national trust for promoting leadership. The list is not exhaustive.

Nor is the list of his interviews. He has appeared ten times in national newspapers in extensive interviews, including two lengthy pen-portraits. There were at least a dozen interviews on prime-time radio and television.

Sir Ian has used the media to praise his force, reassure the public and apologise for the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes during a bungled counterterrorism operation after the July bombings in London. Paul Stephenson, the Deputy Commissioner and former Chief Constable of Lancashire, said that Sir Ian had the backing of senior officers and contrary to reports, Sir Ian had not been to the Home Office to discuss his future.

Chief Superintendent Simon Humphries, who chairs the Superintendents Association branch in the Metropolitan Police, said that his members felt that Sir Ian had been treated harshly by the media and should not be hounded out of office. He said that the Commissioner had apologised for his mistake and “has the confidence of the people he leads and a large majority of the public”.

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