Livingstone 'unconvinced' over 42 days

Ken Livingstone has said he is "not persuaded" of the need to extend the limit of pre-charge detention.

Appearing before the Commons home affairs committee on Tuesday along with his Conservative and Liberal Democrat rivals in May's election, London's Labour mayor set out his policies for policing in the capital.

The government is pressing to increase the current 28-day period to 42 days but is facing opposition from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and a number of backbench Labour MPs.

Livingstone said MPs must ensure they strike a balance between protecting Londoners and safeguarding civil liberties in the long-term.

He said that "police are inevitably going to take" whatever steps they can to help them do their job.

"I would think it would be unusual to have a situation where you haven't already identified other things you could charge them [terror suspects] for," he told MPs.

Livingstone said that before he "had responsibility for London's safety", he would have been "totally in the camp of no extra time for the police".

However he added that: "If something will genuinely make it safer for Londoners, we have to do it."

Johnson

In his submission to the committee, Conservative mayoral candidate Boris Johnson pledged to focus on tackling gang culture and disorder on buses.

"There are two interrelated problems that we need to take more seriously - gang violence and disorder on public transport," he said.

Johnson also said he would "by and large feel safe to walk down the streets of any neighbourhood in London".

Questioned about how he would increase the number of ethnic minority officers, he said that London "should be policed by a police force that reflects our community".

He told MPs that "we are making progress" in attracting a more diverse police force, but that "it isn't as fast as it should be".

"One thing you've got to do is build up a much greater sense of cohesion between the community and the police," he said.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz pointed out that there was only one assistant commissioner of the Met of ethnic origin and asked Johnson if he would take any "positive action" on the issue.

However, the Tory MP warned that a "selection system" could "generate resentment".

Paddick

Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick also appeared before the committee to set out his views.

The former Metropolitan Police commander said: "If there is a change in approach from the police in London then the capacity might be sufficient if there is additional administrative support."

On counter-terror policies, he said it was "a nonsense" for the police to "target Asian-looking people for stop and search".

He argued that if there was a terror alert it would be "more sensible" to stop people if they were carrying large rucksacks rather than on the basis of their appearance.