Mayor of London Boris Johnson has offered to be blasted by a water cannon to prove the tool’s safety, after buying three cannon-equipped vehicles despite having no permission to use them.
Water cannons are widely used around the world by police forces attempting to disperse crowds and break up rioters, and were a commonly used tools during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, they have never been used in mainland Britain and the government is still discussing their possible applications in the future.
Johnson implied that Home Secretary Theresa May and the government have dragged their feet over the issue and went ahead and purchased three second-hand water cannon vehicles from German police without official approval.
He claims that the purchase of the vehicles now was to make sure of getting a good price, and that they will only be used in the capital to prevent the reappearance of riots like those seen in the summer of 2011.
The mayor was challenged to personally feel the force of the cannons on LBC Radio, and agreed to the task, saying:
“OK. Man or mouse. Alright, you’ve challenged me to this. I suppose I’m going to have to do it now.
“I’m doing this unfortunately from off-base, so I can see all my poor press people are going to be tearing their hair out. Never mind, it’s got to be done.”
