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Prime minister forced to retreat after calling riot tactics timid as ICM poll shows public side with police Senior police officers were in open revolt over the government’s police reform agenda on Friday, reacting furiously to criticism of the way they handled the riots, and turning their fire on the home secretary, Theresa May, after she suggested she had instructed the police to take a tougher line. Faced with an onslaught from all levels of the police, David Cameron tried to beat a retreat, lavishly praising the police after he and May had on Thursday in the Commons described police tactics as timid and highlighted police admissions that their initial plans to counter looting had been misguided. May said on Wednesday she had insisted that special constables be mobilised and all police leave should be cancelled, remarks that were seen to threaten the cornerstone of police operational independence. Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, described the role of the politicians as “an irrelevance”, pointing out that by Monday the police had decided to mobilise huge numbers of officers into London. He said he briefed Cameron about the decision after the prime minister returned from holiday on Tuesday morning. Derek Barnett, president of the Police Chief Superintendents’ Association, also said the return of the politicians did not make any difference. “The decisions to deploy police officers in large numbers was made well in advance of politicians becoming involved,” he said, adding that the point of politicians returning from holiday was only to give “a sense there is now someone back in charge of the country and offering political leadership”. Asked about claims by Cameron that policing had been too timid, Tim Godwin, the acting Metropolitan police commissioner, said: “I think, after any event like this, people will always make comments who weren’t there.” He insisted that the changes in tactics and police numbers were due to commanders, not politicians. “I think the issue around the numbers, the issue around the tactics – they are all police decisions and they are all made by my police commanders and myself.” Political sources described Orde as incandescent with Tory attempts to take credit for toughening the police line, adding it underlined his fear that government plans for elected police commissioners will politicise the police. The sources added Orde was still interested in becoming the new Metropolitan police commissioner, but only on his own terms. The row came as an ICM poll for the Guardian showed the public sided with the police and not the politicians over the handling of the riots. The poll conducted this week shows less than a third of voters think the prime minister or the London mayor, Boris Johnson, have performed well. Only 30% say Cameron has done a good job, against 44% who say the opposite. For Johnson, the figures are 28% good job and 38% bad. By contrast, 45% think Godwin has done well, against 27% who say the opposite. The ICM poll also showed most are concerned that the police facing 20 % cuts in budgets already do not have enough resources. Following a meeting of the government’s Cobra committee, Orde told politicians: “Let us be clear about one thing – the distinction between policing and politics remains. The police service will make the tactical decisions and quite rightly we must and should be held to account.” Earlier this week he had ridiculed a suggestion by Cameron that water cannon should be put on standby, saying they would be entirely useless. Orde also praised the British model of policing, arguing the small number of injuries showed police tactics of minimum force had worked. He also revealed he had urged May to hold a conference on comparative international policing styles, adding pointedly: “I sense if we do that the British model will come out well on top.” Bill Bratton, the US policeman admired by Cameron and credited with cleaning up New York, said he was interested in looking at the position of Metropolitan police commissioner. Orde set himself against Cameron’s plans to allow outsiders join the force at high ranks, saying the “leadership of this service understands policing. We all started where our brave officers were the other day. We start at the bottom, we move up and we learn and we move on.” He also contradicted Cameron’s claims that 20% cuts to police budgets over the next four years would have no impact on police visibility. He said: “Chief constables have minimised the impact on the front line. We will have to have some very honest, straightforward conversations with government in years three and four. We have to understand what sort of service we want and we want it to do, and not do.” Peter Hain, the former Northern Ireland secretary who worked with Orde in Northern Ireland, offered his strong support, saying: “He is a reformer that stands up for his officers and tells it like it is in a non-party political way. The Conservatives would be mad not to appoint him Metropolitan commissioner if he wants the job, but he will do it only on his terms.” Sir Norman Bettison, chief constable of West Yorkshire, opened another front against government plans to introduce elected police commissioners to oversee chief constables, with elections due next May at a cost of £100m. He said the mutual aid programme which saw 16,000 put onto the streets of London would not work with elected commissioners. “Mutual aid relies upon the unfettered ability and operational discretion to do things for the greater good rather than for local popularity. The surge the prime minister talks about can only be achieved by coordinating assets across 43 forces. If there are elected police and crime commissioners this will not happen. Each will have been elected on different political platforms and there will be all sorts of parochial decision making about their priorities.” Despite the scale of the rioting, and accusations the police mishandled the initial disorder in Tottenham, public trust in the police seems uniformly strong. Overall, 61% of those polled say they are confident that the police enforce the law fairly, uniformly and without prejudice. By contrast, 36% say they are either not at all (10%) or not very (26%) confident. There is some evidence that younger or poorer people are less likely to trust the police than older or better off ones but in all categories, a majority are satisfied. However the public are far less confident about the police’s ability to keep order. A majority say they think the police lack sufficient resources. The finding could add to opposition to cuts in police numbers and funding. In the Commons on Thursday Cameron came under fire from the Labour leader Ed Miliband and some backbenchers over plans for cuts. While 41% say they are either very (6%) or quite (35%) confident the police have been given adequate resources, 56% say the opposite. People on lower incomes are the most likely to think the police are under-resourced. UK riots Metropolitan police Police London David Cameron Opinion polls Crime Cobra (Civil Contingencies Committee) Patrick Wintour Sandra Laville guardian.co.uk