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Police water cannon use rejected by home secretary Police water cannon use rejected by home secretary
(35 minutes later)
Police will not be allowed to use water cannon on the streets of England and Wales, the home secretary has said. The home secretary has refused to allow the use of water cannon in England and Wales - a year after three of them were bought by the Metropolitan Police.
London Mayor Boris Johnson authorised the Metropolitan Police to buy three second-hand water cannon from German police last year at a cost of £218,000. London Mayor Boris Johnson authorised the £218,000 purchase of three second-hand cannon from the German police.
But after a study of their safety and effectiveness, Theresa May said she had decided not to licence them for use. But Theresa May said "without safeguards" water cannon had "the capacity to cause harm".
She said she was concerned about the risk of injury, as well as their impact on public perceptions of the police.
Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper welcomed the decision.
Water cannon are used in Northern Ireland, but have never been deployed in the rest of the UK.Water cannon are used in Northern Ireland, but have never been deployed in the rest of the UK.
They were deployed most recently in north Belfast on Monday against Loyalist demonstrators during the annual Twelfth of July celebrations.They were deployed most recently in north Belfast on Monday against Loyalist demonstrators during the annual Twelfth of July celebrations.
Mrs May said the decision whether to authorise water cannon was a "serious" one. Mayor 'disappointed'
"Without safeguards they have the capacity to cause harm," she told the Commons. Mrs May said the decision on whether to authorise water cannon was a "serious" one and a lengthy study had been carried out to assess their safety and effectiveness.
She said she had decided against granting a licence for a number of reasons, including concerns about the risk of injury they posed to those struck by them. She said she had decided against granting a licence for a number of reasons, including concerns about the risk of injury to anyone struck by them.
She also said she "remained unconvinced" about "the operability" of the particular water cannon purchased by the Met, which she said were 25 years old. Evidence suggested they were "unlikely to result in serious or life-threatening injuries", Mrs May said, but there were still "direct and indirect medical risks", including spinal fracture, concussion, eye injury and blunt trauma.
Finally, she said she was concerned about the "potential impact of water cannon on public perceptions of police legitimacy". She cited the case of a German man blinded after being struck in the face by a water cannon in 2010.
She also said she "remained unconvinced" about "the operability" of the particular water cannon purchased by the Met, which she said were 25 years old and had required considerable alteration and repair.
Police chief constables had also suggested water cannon were of limited use in response to "fast, agile disorder" such as that seen during the riots of 2011 - a very different proposition from the "stand off situation we see in the parades in Northern Ireland", she said.
Finally, the home secretary said she was concerned about the "potential impact of water cannon on public perceptions of police legitimacy", and cited warnings from chief constables that they could be "entirely counterproductive" in areas which already had a strained relationship with the authorities.
"The country has a proud history of policing by consent and this is a decision which goes to its very heart," Mrs May said.
'Outbreak of violence'
A source close to Mr Johnson told the BBC he was "disappointed", but the Met Police would continue to train on the three water cannon bought last year.
Responding to the decision in the Commons, the mayor said the decision to buy the water cannon for London had been taken "with the strong support" of the prime minister, the commissioner of the Met Police and "the people of London".
He said he "failed to see the physiological difference" between people in Northern Ireland and those in the rest of the UK.
Mr Johnson asked whether, in the event of "a serious outbreak of violence that posed a threat to life and limb and property", it would be open to police to present a new application for water cannon to be used.
Mrs May said it was always possible for the police to make an application for the use of a new non-lethal weapon, and if so, a proper process would be undertaken and a decision made by the home secretary.