Minister defends wearing stab vest

Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman insisted today that she did not need to wear a stab-proof vest on the streets of south London - despite donning one for a visit yesterday.

Ms Harman, the Leader of the House of Commons, was pictured wearing the vest while out with neighbourhood police officers in her Peckham constituency.

The visit came as Labour was trumpeting new neighbourhood police teams which it says are now in place in every community in the country.

Ms Harman met members of one of the teams in Peckham, discussing their work over a cup of tea.

"Then we went out on the streets and they hitched on their stab vests, I think is what they are called," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"They were telling me about their new version, (which is) much lighter than the old one so that if they have to chase criminals they can do it much more easily and it doesn't weigh them down.

"And they gave me and my assistant one to wear as well."

She likened it to wearing a hard-hat during a visit to a building site or a hair net in a meat factory.

Interviewer John Humphrys said: "You wear a hard hat on a building site because there are dangers there.

"There is the danger that something might drop on your head. You don't need to wear a bullet-proof vest on the streets of London, do you?"

Ms Harman responded: "No of course you don't."

She accused the press of misrepresenting the picture, which has also been placed on her website.

"It was just a courtesy, there was no security issue whatsoever, it was almost like wearing the kit when you go out with the team," she said.

"I don't have to wear a stab proof jacket and I didn't have to wear stab proof jacket. I put it on just as a matter of courtesy and because I was going out with the team."

Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "Under Labour, London has become one of the most dangerous cities in the world and the minister, like the Home Secretary before her, clearly knows it.

"You would not need body armour in New York, Paris or Tokyo."

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith sparked controversy recently by suggesting she would not feel safe walking the streets of deprived areas of London at night.