Despite the strength of opposition, Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson has recently made the decision to purchase 3 water cannon for London.
An image, via the Independant, taken from Baroness Jones’s Buzzfeed listing 10 of the most compelling reasons why water cannon are a bad idea for Londoners.
A MOPAC decision notice from 9 June 2014 signed by the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime approves the purchase of three second-hand water cannon from the German Federal Police costing £218,205 in total. Each cannon costs £30,435 and then the transportation, refitting and fixing to meet safety standards costs £42,300 for each cannon.
This means that only a decision by the Home Secretary not to license the cannons can prevent these weapons becoming part of policing in London.
Green London Assembly Member and working Peer Jenny Jones has been a vocal opponent of bringing water cannon to the streets of the capital – along with the majority of Londoners, British Police Forces and the London Assembly. Responding to news of the purchase she said:
“Pre-empting the Home Secretary’s decision is rash and smacks of arrogance on the Mayor’s part, not to mention a possible waste of taxpayers’ money at a time when the Met is making huge cuts. It’s also ignoring the views of the vast majority of Londoners who don’t want water cannon. If the Mayor had actually taken the time to look his own consultation he would have seen 98% of people opposed the plans for water cannon.
“We’ve been told by police chiefs that water cannon would have been useless in the riots and yet still the Mayor seems fixated on giving the police this weapon. It’s an indiscriminate military weapon that risks injuring and distressing innocent bystanders and making things worse rather than containing situations. Water cannon have no place on the streets of London and I hope the Home Secretary sees sense.“
As part of the campaign to pursuade the Home Secretary not to give in to the demands of the Mayor and license the cannon, Jenny has put together an article on the popular social news site Buzzfeed listing 10 of the most compelling reasons why water cannon are a bad idea for Londoners. Read here