Britain's most senior police officer Sir Ian Blair dismissed reports today that he would be ousted as London's Commissioner by the end of the year saying "the report of my death is an exaggeration".
The
Timesnewspaper said ministers and other police chiefs were secretly preparing plans to remove Mr Blair, who has been dogged by controversy since taking over as head of London's Metropolitan Police force in February 2005.
The paper said the first action would be to tell him in writing this week that his contract, which has 18 months still to run, would not be renewed when it expires in 2010.
"The story in today's
Timeshas no basis in fact. Newspapers do not always get everything right," Mr Blair said in a statement outside Scotland Yard's headquarters, adding that the British Home Office had also rejected the suggestions.
"As Mark Twain said after reading an account of his own death in the
New York Journal, the report of my death is an exaggeration. Same here, I have a job to do, I'm getting on with it, and will continue to do so."
He said there had been no discussions at all about his contract or future, and that it was unlikely there would be any until his last year in office.
Mr Blair has regularly been criticised in the media since taking over Britain's top policing job. The Oxford University graduate has also been unpopular with some members of his own rank and file who feel he is too politically correct.
Most recently, Mr Blair has become embroiled in an embarrassing high profile row with Britain's highest ranking Muslim officer, Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, who has accused him of racial discrimination.
Last November he survived a no-confidence vote from his force's presiding body, the Metropolitan Police Authority, over the fatal shooting of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes who was mistaken by officers for a suicide bomber.
That came after the Met Police was found guilty in a criminal court case of breaking health and safety laws over the July 2005 killing of de Menezes.
The
Timessaid senior officials were planning to act against Mr Blair after he acts as a "lightning conductor" for criticism expected when the inquest into the Brazilian's death is held later this month.
"Ian has already been asked to consider whether his staying in the job is damaging the Met," a senior source told the paper. "The infighting at the top of the Yard is sapping the morale of the men and women doing the job on the street."
Mr Blair, who has always insisted he would stay in his job despite repeated criticism, often points to his success in cutting crime and expanding neighbourhood policing.
However, the
Timessaid his argument had been damaged by the spate of high profile teenage murders, with 25 youngsters dying violently on London's streets so far this year.
Reuters