'Put Ken in control of Met to boost crime fight'

Control of the Met Police should be handed to Ken Livingstone to boost the fight against crime, the man who ran the Tory campaign to unseat him declared today.

Mark MacGregor, former campaign director for Steve Norris, said it was time to make the "insular and defensive" force more accountable to Londoners.

In his Manifesto For The Met, published by Tory thinktank Policy Exchange and aimed at Sir Ian Blair - who takes over as Met Commissioner next week - Mr MacGregor calls for an end to Government interference in the Met.

The Commissioner should be accountable to the Mayor rather than the Home Office, as in New York and other US cities, he says.

"The voters can then make their own minds up on crime every four years in the mayoral elections. At the moment, Ken can quite rightly say, 'It's nothing to do with me, guv,' if crime rises."