Blunkett told Prison Service head to 'machine gun' rioting inmates » Central Government » 24dash.com

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett told the head of the Prison Service to "machine gun" rioting inmates in a bid to regain control of a jail, it was claimed today.

Martin Narey, then director-general, claimed a "hysterical" Mr Blunkett told him he did not care about loss of life after Lincoln jail was taken over by prisoners in October 2002.

Mr Blunkett denied the account of the telephone conversation, saying that the call would have been monitored by his private office.

Writing in The Times, Mr Narey said he had told Mr Blunkett he would not rush ordering staff back into the jail if it put lives at risk.

He went on: "He shrieked at me that he didn't care about lives, told me to call in the Army and 'machine gun' the prisoners and - still shrieking - again ordered me to take the prison back immediately.

"I refused. David hung up."

Mr Narey acknowledged that the comments were not meant literally, saying "he surely cannot have intended us to take (them) seriously".

But he said the incident demonstrated that when Mr Blunkett was under pressure "he could be almost impossible to work with".

"I found him always unpredictable and inclined to rush to a decision sometimes on the basis of what had been read to him that morning from the tabloid press," he added.

Mr Narey's article was written in response to Mr Blunkett's newly-published diaries, in which he accuses the then Director-General of dithering over the response to the rioters.

Mr Narey said he could not allow Mr Blunkett's account to go unchallenged.

A spokesman for Mr Blunkett told The Times: "Everything to do with the Lincoln riot is in the diary. The diary records precisely what happened.

"He did order the retaking of the prison. He did not say anything about machine guns. Quite apart from anything else they do not carry machine guns in the Prison Service.

"Any such phone call would have been monitored by Mr Blunkett's private office.

"They did retake the prison in the end but while the episode was going on, Mr Blunkett reminded Martin Narey of a situation that had occurred when David Waddington, then Home Secretary, had failed to act in similar circumstances.

"Martin Narey had not been aware of that.

"During the Lincoln prison situation Mr Blunkett offered Martin Narey absolute political cover for dealing with the situation."

Mr Narey later stood by his account - and accused Mr Blunkett of acting in a "reckless" way over the disturbance.

"If the call was monitored and someone has a recording of it I would be delighted to hear it. I promise you my account is absolutely true," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"What you are looking for is calm guidance, it's leadership, from a Secretary of State, and that was sadly lacking on that occasion."

He added: "I don't think David was decisive that evening; I think he was reckless."

He dismissed as "nonsense" the idea that he had had to be reminded of the previous riot.

"I worked for David Waddington; I spent time in the incident room managing the incident at Strangeways and in managing the Lincoln riot - the only riot David had to cope with. I was well aware of the capacity for riots to spread and we acted decisively."

He said he had refused "many offers" to write his memoirs because he felt private conversations should remain unpublished.

"I never lobbied against the Government, never lobbied against David, never leaked. But I read his account... and I was very angry.

"And on behalf of all those who worked so bravely that night - particularly my deputy, Phil Wheatley - I was determined to put the record straight."

Copyright Press Association 2006