Blunkett 'ordered Met police chief to remove tanks from Heathrow'

David Blunkett ordered the police to pull out the Army tanks they sent to Heathrow airport after intelligence warnings about an al-Qa'ida attack, it was revealed yesterday.

David Blunkett ordered the police to pull out the Army tanks they sent to Heathrow airport after intelligence warnings about an al-Qa'ida attack, it was revealed yesterday.

A new biography of the beleaguered Home Secretary reveals that he clashed with Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, over his interpretation of a decision, approved by Tony Blair, to beef up security at Heathrow in a "restrained, proportionate" manner on the day of a Muslim festivalin February last year.

Mr Blunkett was appalled when aides learnt from television coverage that the military had "taken over" at the airport. He feared being accused of trying to scare the public to justify his draconian anti-terror measures - which duly happened.

The Home Secretary said in the book: "They [the police] used their operational freedom to go over the top." Sir John told Mr Blunkett the "tanks" were only "armoured vehicles". He was summoned to Mr Blunkett's office and told to withdraw them. Mr Blunkett told the book's author, Stephen Pollard: "It was male, macho, silly laddism. Boys' Own comic stuff." The Home Secretary could barely contain his anger, says the book.

The revelation follows allegations that the Government is trying to use the "politics of fear" to win support. The use of the tanks was recalled after media reports last month claimed an al-Qa'ida plot to fly planes into Canary Wharf had been foiled. The reports were said to have come from government sources, but they were dismissed by anti-terrorist chiefs.