The Superiority of the British Police (Compared to those incompetent Portuguese.....)

Amongst all the xenophobic bullshit being written about the supposed incompetence of the Portuguese police, it is nice to have a reminder of the competence of our own beloved police force.

Sir Ian Blair's position as head of the Metropolitan police was again in jeopardy last night after he received a sustained verbal mauling from his own watchdog authority over the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes. Those close to Sir Ian fear the issue will dog his remaining time of up to three years as Britain's top police officer.

Yesterday members of the Metropolitan Police Authority criticised Sir Ian for not knowing "where the truth lay" over the shooting dead on July 22 2005 of the 27-year-old innocent Brazilian, and said it was "incomprehensible" that he was not aware on the day of the shooting of serious fears among his own officers that an innocent man had been gunned down.

One senior Met source, classed as a loyalist to Sir Ian, said it was significant that no MPA member offered the commissioner unqualified support over two-and-half hours of questioning which led to Sir Ian admitting that "appalling" errors were made. The force was heavily criticised last month in a report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission for "serious weaknesses" in the way information about the shooting was handled.


So the Portuguese follow up a lead (due to the work of the British police) and are considered incompetent. The British police gun down an entirely innocent man and are considered far superior to their Portuguese contemporaries. Aaaahh, the merits of a xenophobic press campaign.