Met chief on the rack over bonus

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair is facing an unprecedented no confidence vote in a row over claims that he wanted to take a £25,000 performance bonus.

Members of the Metropolitan Police Authority say they will push for a vote at a meeting this week amid growing concern about the leadership of Sir Ian, who has been in the post since February 2005.

The new blow to the commissioner - whose force is currently on trial over the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes - follows reports that he has clashed angrily with his deputy Paul Stephenson after being forced to give up his right to a £25,000 performance bonus.

Senior colleagues are said to have condemned his behaviour, while others claim the row reflects a "jockeying for position" among contenders to replace Sir Ian if the Stockwell verdict goes against the Met.

Scotland Yard has tried to play down rift claims, but leading MPA members expressed concern about the conduct of Sir Ian, who receives a £228,000 salary.

Deputy MPA chairwoman Cindy Butts said: "I think it is wholly inappropriate for a bonus to be issued with everything that has happened this year."

Richard Barnes, a senior Conservative MPA member, who strongly criticised Sir Ian at a recent meeting of the police authority, also said the bonus payment was inappropriate.

"I think it would be premature to ask for a bonus while waiting for the outcome of the health and safety trial," he said.

He added: "I find it distasteful that bonuses are seen as part of pay now. I went on the record at the last police authority meeting with my concerns about lack of confidence in the senior management of the Met."

Damian Hockney, the One London Party member of the London Assembly, added: "There should be no talk of bonuses until the present problems are sorted out."

Jenny Jones, another MPA member, said that although Sir Ian might have qualified for a bonus, he would have been "unwise" to apply for it because of the negative impression it would give the public.

"He may feel he deserves a bonus - the Met has hit all its targets this year - but it would have been a provocative move and it is not like he doesn't earn a good salary already," she said.

The bonus controversy is the latest in a series of gaffes by Sir Ian which have blighted his tenure at the Met. The row is understood to have broken out about two weeks ago after Sir Ian's deputy Paul Stephenson, who had already declined his own bonus, questioned Sir Ian's desire to ask for the £25,000 payment.

The commissioner is said to have written to his deputy, though insiders deny reports that he questioned his loyalty in the letter.

The Met issued an extraordinary statement denying the two men had "had a blazing row", although a spokesman confirmed that they had had a personal discussion - and had both decided not to put themselves forward for bonus payments.

The spokesman added: "They have made it clear there was no blazing row and they still enjoy a strong working relationship."

Another source close to Sir Ian defended the suggestion that he should seek a bonus and pointed out that official figures show that crime has fallen sharply in London over the past two years.

"Crime is at its lowest level for ten years. Obviously there is the de Menezes case but performance is going in the right direction," they added.

An MPA spokesman confirmed neither of the men are seeking bonuses this year. Sir Ian is said to be furious that details of the private discussion have been leaked.