“The Met is not a local constabulary but a Home Office private militia. It works to performance targets fixed by the Home Secretary, largely determined by the requirements of his or her public image”......

So writes Simon Jenkins in the Evening Standard, in an article entitled “Now give us back control of our own police force”. He continues “This will never improve until control of London's police is emphatically remitted to local control. Borough Commander should be the highest rank in the Met below commissioner. Local voters should be able to choose the priorities of their local police through borough councils enjoying some discretion over operational policy”.

And do you know what? He’s 100% right. Much as I hate to agree with anyone who plies their trade with such a dubious rag as the Evening Standard, I find myself in total and utter agreement.

Over the last twelve years, the bunch of control freaks that is the Labour Government has given itself all sorts of extra powers which used to be under local democratic control. Well the time has come to devolve power from central government and its quangos to local councils, giving local people themselves more power to make change happen through reforms. Because one size does not fit all, as of course this dreadful Government insists it does.

This is the only way that we will ultimately get back control of our own police force. Since the Labour party came to power in 1997 there have been great swathes of police officers who have made a career out of political manoeuvring and have no concept of real policing. These politicised idiots at Scotland Yard have sold short the tens of thousands of hard working police officers who strive to keep the peace on a daily basis. Sir Ian Blair allowed himself to be dragged into politics. He courted the liberal intelligentsia when he should have been communicating with the public and ordinary cops and as a result Sir Ian lost the support of most of the public and the bulk of the Met's rank and file. Only the backing of Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, kept him in the job. Sir Paul Stephenson appears to be cut from the same cloth. Enough is enough.

With spineless fools like this in charge and pulling the strings for the organisation, is it any reason that crime continues to rise and confidence in the police continues to fall? It’s time to be rid of this great army of bureaucrats plying their trade at Scotland Yard, who simply spend their time trying to look busy, sitting there undertaking irrelevant ‘busy work’ and creating an ever larger array of regulation and bureaucracy for those at the sharp end. Much of it is as ineffective as it is oppressive. These so called ‘Senior Officers’ are infallible and claim no responsibility for anything that threatens their pensions, or job. Just look at the rewards handed out for their spectacular and embarrassing failures – “Ah, so you totally cocked up the Paul Burrell investigation, no worries have a promotion to ease the pain of public ridicule”, “Jean Charles de who? Have a promotion to ease the pain of public criticism”.

The number one task for the police is to get out and ensure that the law-abiding community defeats the criminal community. That will only be achieved if the Home Office and Scotland Yard are castrated and Borough Commanders and local authorities are empowered.

And the political-bureaucrats masquerading as police officers at Scotland Yard should be beasted around the drill-square for being a disgrace to the Queen's uniform ...