WHAT HE SAID

"You can't come in here without a pair of copper-bottomed trousers. This is a very tough place."

February 2005

"People think it is ok to use cocaine but I don't think it is ok. It's become socially acceptable in some areas. People are having dinner parties where they drink less wine and snort more cocaine. I don't like that. We will have to do something about it, make a few examples of some people."

Feb 2005, first day in office

"There is nothing wrong with being an Islamic fundamentalist. The question is how we help the vulnerable young people who are attracted to violence."

Feb 2005

"The Met is seen as the gold standard of policing across the world... We've been described by HMIC as the envy of the policing world in relation to counter-terrorism... London is a terrorist target, particularly the postcard sites of London... we have a long track record of dealing with Irish republican terrorism and we've now upped our game."

Morning of July 7, 2005, when suicide bombers killed 52 people on London Tube trains and a bus

”The information I have available is that this shooting is directly linked to the ongoing and expanding anti-terrorist operation. Any death is deeply regrettable, I understand the man was challenged and refused to obey"

22/7/2005 press conference after shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes

"I believe that the media are guilty of institutional racism in the way they report deaths... If you look at the murders in Soham, almost nobody can understand why that dreadful story became the biggest story in Britain."

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