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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Harman defends wearing stab vest | Harman defends wearing stab vest |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has defended her decision to wear a stab proof jacket during a police walkabout in her south London constituency. | Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has defended her decision to wear a stab proof jacket during a police walkabout in her south London constituency. |
| Ms Harman, also Commons leader and Labour chairman, rejected newspaper claims it suggested she did not feel safe on the streets. | Ms Harman, also Commons leader and Labour chairman, rejected newspaper claims it suggested she did not feel safe on the streets. |
| She told the BBC that the neighbourhood police team she was with put on their stab vests and gave her one as well. | She told the BBC that the neighbourhood police team she was with put on their stab vests and gave her one as well. |
| She said it was like wearing a white hairnet when visiting a meat factory. | She said it was like wearing a white hairnet when visiting a meat factory. |
| The picture of Ms Harman wearing the jacket during a police walkabout in her Camberwell and Peckham constituency was taken by her assistant, put on her website and sent to the South London Press newspaper. | The picture of Ms Harman wearing the jacket during a police walkabout in her Camberwell and Peckham constituency was taken by her assistant, put on her website and sent to the South London Press newspaper. |
| Ms Harman told BBC Radio 4's Today: "Most of the people in South London have got the good sense to recognise that I would be praising their neighbourhood police team and they would think nothing of it." | Ms Harman told BBC Radio 4's Today: "Most of the people in South London have got the good sense to recognise that I would be praising their neighbourhood police team and they would think nothing of it." |
| 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 Harriet HarmanDeputy Labour leader | 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 Harriet HarmanDeputy Labour leader |
| She explained that she had been in the police canteen hearing about their work ahead of going out on the streets. | She explained that she had been in the police canteen hearing about their work ahead of going out on the streets. |
| "They busily hitched on their stab jackets... they were telling me about their new version, 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. | "They busily hitched on their stab jackets... they were telling me about their new version, 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." | "And they gave me and my assistant one to wear as well." |
| She said it was like wearing a white hairnet at a meat factory, or a hard hat at a building site. | She said it was like wearing a white hairnet at a meat factory, or a hard hat at a building site. |
| Today's John Humphrys said: "You wear a hard hat on a building site because... 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?" | Today's John Humphrys said: "You wear a hard hat on a building site because... 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." | Ms Harman responded: "No of course you don't." |
| "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. | "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. |
| Smith row | Smith row |
| On her website, Ms Harman hails Labour's neighbourhood policing initiative, which she said had put more officers on the beat in Southwark. | On her website, Ms Harman hails Labour's neighbourhood policing initiative, which she said had put more officers on the beat in Southwark. |
| She is quoted as saying: "It is absolutely crucial to have neighbourhood policing which is visible. People feel safer when there is a police presents (sic)." | She is quoted as saying: "It is absolutely crucial to have neighbourhood policing which is visible. People feel safer when there is a police presents (sic)." |
| The Daily Mail quotes an unnamed police source who said: "Everyone was flabbergasted by her decision to wear the vest, especially when she was guarded by three police officers. Senior politicians who have visited Peckham in the past have never worn one." | The Daily Mail quotes an unnamed police source who said: "Everyone was flabbergasted by her decision to wear the vest, especially when she was guarded by three police officers. Senior politicians who have visited Peckham in the past have never worn one." |
| The newspaper said it was "a sad reflection of a modern Britain where police feel they have to offer VIP guests 'protection'". | The newspaper said it was "a sad reflection of a modern Britain where police feel they have to offer VIP guests 'protection'". |
| Ms Harman is likely to come in for further criticism when she stands in for Gordon Brown for the first time at prime minister's questions in the Commons on Wednesday. | Ms Harman is likely to come in for further criticism when she stands in for Gordon Brown for the first time at prime minister's questions in the Commons on Wednesday. |
| In January, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith sparked controversy after admitting in a newspaper interview that she felt unsafe walking alone in London at night. | |
| She later played down the comments, saying London's streets were "safer now than they have been at any point". | She later played down the comments, saying London's streets were "safer now than they have been at any point". |
| Following the row, an aide said Ms Smith, who has full-time police protection, had recently bought a late-night kebab in Peckham. |