ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Boris Johnson today threw his weight behind the Metropolitan Police’s bid for water cannon to tackle extreme disorder on London’s streets.

In a letter to Home Secretary Theresa May, Mr Johnson said he had been convinced of the case for the controversial crowd control tool and asked her to give it the green light.

It comes after a poll, carried out alongside a public consultation over the plan, found that over two thirds of Londoners were supportive of the use of water cannon in “limited” circumstances.

Just over half, 52 per cent, also said they would have greater confidence in the Met’s ability to respond to serious public disorder if the tool were available to police.

Mr Johnson told the Home Secretary: “I have taken into account both the professional advice of the MPS that water cannon is a valuable tool, and the broad public backing for its use, in my decision to support, subject to the necessary safeguards, the request from the police for you to authorise their use on the UK mainland, and for me to support the Commissioner’s request for funding.”

He and Met chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe want to spend £200,000 on three second-hand German water cannon by this summer in case of future riots.

City Hall aides were keen to stress the Mayor had come to a “considered and careful” decision to recommend that Mrs May agree to grant a licence - the next hurdle faced.

Mr Johnson told her he had satisfied himself over doubts about practicability and affordability, and above all the operational regime, constraints and authorisation protocols which would apply.

But he still faces staunch opposition to the plan - 35,000 people have already signed a petition against it and the London Assembly said the Mayor and the Met had failed to make a case for buying the machines.

The issue has divided senior Tory politicians at City Hall. Among the London Assembly members who voted against the plan are former deputy mayor for policing Kit Malthouse and deputy mayor Victoria Borwick.

Related stories





Mr Johnson told the Assembly today: “No one wants to see water cannon deployed routinely on the streets of London.

“But having carefully considered the responses to the consultation and extensive poll I have concluded that Londoners support the use of water cannon in limited situations of extreme public disorder.”

He added: “The Commissioner has assured me that they will be rarely seen and rarely used and not used to respond to public protest.”

The TNS poll of 4,223 Londoners, commissioned by the Mayor, found Londoners were broadly in favour of the introduction of the availability of water cannons to the Met in the event that they should be required.

Six in ten agreed that the Met had shown itself capable of responding well to serious disorder in London, while 17 per cent disagreed.

The same number, 60 per cent, felt water cannons would be useful for policing London, while one in ten felt they wouldn’t.

And nearly seven in ten, 68 per cent, agreed there was a “small limited role” for the machine in dealing with the most serious public disorder in London, with 17 per cent disagreeing.