A payoff deal for controversial Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has come under fire after reports he is to receive £295,000.
The sum is understood to be his wage until February 2010, when his contract was due to expire. Sir Ian will officially step down on December 1 after London Mayor Boris Johnson made it clear they could not work together.
Speaking of the Metropolitan Police Authority deal, Liberal Democrat London Assembly member Dee Doocey said: "I can see no reason whatsoever to pay off somebody who has resigned."
The starting gun in the race to be Britain's next top police officer sounded last week as an advertisement for the role was published.
The handful of potential candidates for the role of Metropolitan Police Commissioner will already be adding the final polish to their applications.
They must submit them by noon on December 1. The new man or woman must lead Britain's biggest force out of a tumultuous period of race division and squabbling among senior officers.
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