The spat between Boris Johnson and Theresa May over the acquisition of three second hand ones from the German police has the air of a dormitory water pistol fight that has left an unprepared Johnson standing in dripping pyjamas.
It has become a received wisdom that the incident raises questions about Johnson’s fitness for high office. But does it? May’s claim that water cannon are dangerous is somewhat at odds with them being in routine use in Northern Ireland and deployed 364 times in the past four years without problems.
The 67 reported issues regarding the ex-German water cannon are mostly trivial and have all been resolved to the satisfaction of the Metropolitan Police. One, for example, involved an instruction panel in German inside one vehicle. This was easily replaced by one in English. Another concerned what the operators would be called: cannoneers or water cannon operators? As a man of eloquence, the mayor will surely have resolved this in favour of the former.
As for the accusation of wasting money, a capital outlay of £218,000, plus £5,000 a month for storage, doesn’t seem the biggest drain on the public purse. Indeed, such criticism is a little inapt from a member of a government that managed to order an aircraft carrier without any aircraft to go on it.
This is a leading article from the new Spectator.
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