Police body election plan ditched

The Home Secretary blames the Tories' behaviour for changing opinions

Plans to directly elect some members of police authorities have been scrapped amid opposition from senior officers and some of the authorities.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she would "step back" from the plans aimed at making police in England and Wales more accountable to local communities.

She told the Guardian the recent behaviour of Tories had raised fears that the police were being politicised.

She cited the London mayor's role in Met chief Sir Ian Blair's resignation.

Details of the plan were expected to be laid out in the Policing and Crime Bill, due to be published later, but it is understood the proposal has now been removed.

There are 43 police authorities in England and Wales, which oversee the work of their relevant force.

They are currently made up of people selected from the local area and local councillors appointed to serve on them.

I think it is right to step back to focus on the radical changes we are already making to the police at the neighbourhood level, and to think about what recent events mean for the politicisation of the police Jacqui Smith, home secretary

Advocates of the proposal had hoped having directly elected members on the bodies would make communities feel they had a greater say in how their local forces operated.

But some Labour council chiefs were worried their influence over the police would be diluted and senior officers were concerned about their operational independence.

The home secretary said she still supported the plan but now was the time to "step back" from it.

She has asked former Home Secretary David Blunkett to prepare a report on proposals for Labour's next manifesto on how to make the police more accountable.

'Fundamental shift'

In the newspaper interview, she said: "Looking at what has happened over the past two months, there has been a fundamental shift in the way people think about the politicisation of the police.

"I put that down to the London mayor's intervention in the resignation of Sir Ian Blair and the events surrounding the Damian Green affair.

"I think it is right to step back to focus on the radical changes we are already making to the police at the neighbourhood level and to think about what recent events mean for the politicisation of the police."

Sir Ian announced in October he was resigning as Metropolitan Police Commissioner after the new mayor, Boris Johnson, made it clear in a private meeting that he did not have his confidence.

More recently, the arrest of Tory MP Damian Green and a raid on his Commons office led to Tory accusations that the police investigation was politically motivated.

Ms Smith has stressed the police acted independently.

The danger of politicisation of the police comes from the complete micro-management that has been the hallmark of this government over the last 11 years Dominic Grieve, shadow home secretary

Speaking to the Guardian, she added that initially there had been some support from senior police officers for directly elected members but after Sir Ian Blair's resignation, officers had voiced concerns about "politicisation and operational independence".

"They said to me there is a real risk that something that is very important in British policing - about non-politicisation - is at risk of being undermined, and I think when you are faced with something that fundamental, it is quite important that you do take stock."

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: "The danger of politicisation of the police comes from the complete micro-management that has been the hallmark of this government over the last 11 years.

"Our plans to replace police authorities with directly elected police commissioners are entirely different from those of the government.

"They are about both restoring the professional judgement of the police, while making them accountable to and able to work with the public, not Whitehall diktats."