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Royal car attack: How did the police get it so wrong again?
Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and Theresa May, the Home Secretary, are under growing political pressure over the handling of student demonstrations which saw the Prince of Wales’ car attacked.
Both Conservative and Labour MPs said that serious questions had to be raised about the security breaches which saw protestors break into the Treasury building on Whitehall and later smash the window of the Prince’s car.
The fact that the Prince’s was driven through an area where demonstrators were running loose will intensify the pressure on Sir Paul, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. Scotland Yard claimed last night that its officers had “managed” the incident.
David Davis, the former shadow Home Secretary, said: “Sir Paul has very serious questions to answer about this operation. The police always know where the prince is for obvious security reasons. So why were professional anarchists and violent agitators allowed to come anywhere near his car?”
On Thursday night neither Mrs May or Sir Paul addressed the breaches of security which left the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall open to attack.
Mrs May was asked repeatedly whether there would be an inquiry but declined to comment. She said that the next steps would be for the Metropolitan Police.
Paul Stephenson praised his officers and condemned the “outrageous and increasing levels of violence”, but did not comment on the attack on the Prince.
Brian Paddick, a former deputy assistant commissioner with the Met, said that the Prince of Wales should not have been travelling through central London after a day of protests. He said: “Consideration should have been given to whether it was safe for them to go out at all. I don’t understand how the car was allowed to come into such close contact with the protesters, bearing in mind that there should have been motorcycle outriders ahead of the car who would have spotted trouble in advance.”
A government source was critical of the police. The source said: "You have to wonder about the way the police conducted this operation. Sealing Westminster off the way they did allowed the protesters to run riot elsewhere. And the decision to allow the Prince to travel anywhere near the area in a very visible official car shows a complete lack of intelligence."
The incidents were the second time that the police had appeared unable to contain violence arising from student demonstrations. At a protest last month, demonstrators easily overwhelmed a “light touch” police presence and broke into Conservative Party headquarters at Westminster.
Just hours after the first riot, Sir Paul described the police response as an embarrassment” and issued an apology to office workers who feared for their lives when “thuggish” rioters took control of the office block. The following day, he sent an internal message to all of his officers saying that he had ordered a “very quick internal review” and warned: “I do not want to see this again.”
Sir Paul warned of a new era of civil unrest. “The game has changed and we missed it,” he said. “We should have put more officers on and we did not.”