• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

MayorWatch

London News and Comment

  • NEWS
  • Twitter

Ignore the spin, Boris is keeping his water cannon because they’re unsellable scrap

July 15, 2015 - Martin Hoscik@MayorWatch

Boris Johnson with Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe
Boris Johnson with Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe
Within minutes of Theresa May announcing her decision not to license the use of water cannon by the Met, Boris was out in front the cameras spinning that he’d keep the vehicles just in case they became useful in the future.

But the truth is he’s being forced to keep them because the chances of finding someone to buy them at a price which lets City Hall and the Met cover their costs are pretty much close to nil.

In September 2013 Met Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley wrote to Boris’s policing deputy to warn that their purchase was only “an interim solution as the water cannon are 23 years old and, though in good mechanical condition, it can only be anticipated that they will have a working life of two to three years.”

Going by Rowley’s own time frame, these unwanted and unlicensed weapons now have a maximum shelf life of 14 months.

Which passing mug could City Hall find to pay £200k for vehicles the Home Secretary has decided are unsafe, which need 67 separate mechanical and other failures addressing and are all but at the end of their operational life span?

You’d have to have the luck of a German to find a buyer that gullible.

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Tagged With: Water Cannon

RECENT UPDATES

Tube and rail users to benefit from Oyster weekly fares cap

Mayor and TfL call on ministers to help plug funding gap

Tube to get full mobile phone coverage from 2024

TfL says Direct Vision Standard is already making HGVs safer for London road users




POPULAR

City Hall to move to Docklands as Mayor seeks to raise £55m for frontline services

‘Concern’ over TfL’s ability to deliver major projects in wake of Crossrail cost overruns

City Hall halts London Overground ticket office closures but many will still see opening hours reduced

Transport for London confirms bus cuts will go ahead despite passenger opposition

GOT A STORY?

As the original London news and scrutiny site we've been casting an eye over the capital's public services and politicians since 1999.

 

Many of our top stories started with a tip-off from a reader - if you've got something you'd like us to cover get in touch and we'll do the rest.

Stay In Touch

  • E-mail
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.