Sir Ian Blair has strongly denied allegations of a cover-up of the bungled police surveillance operation which led to the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.
The pressure increased on the Met commissioner yesterday after the police complaints watchdog revealed that Scotland Yard had initially tried to resist an independent inquiry into the shooting of the Brazilian.
John Wadham, deputy chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said in a statement: "The Metropolitan Police Service initially resisted us taking on the investigation but we overcame that.
"It was an important victory for our independence. This dispute has caused delay in us taking over the investigation but we have worked hard to recover the lost ground."
But Sir Ian dismissed the allegation that he had tried to block an independent inquiry.
He said the reason he had written to Sir John Gieve, permanent secretary at the Home Office, to try to delay an IPCC investigation was because the counter-terrorist operation should take precedence.
In a statement released by Scotland Yard last night he said: "I just said, at the moment we need the Met to carry this out and everything has got to be subordinate to the counter-terrorist operation. Secondly, the IPCC has a fundamental duty . . . to disclose information to those affected. How does that sit with the nature of a counter-terrorist investigation, which involves secret intelligence?"
He added: "That is not a cover-up. But those allegations, I have to say, do strike at the integrity of this office and the integrity of the Metropolitan police and I fundamentally reject them."
Ken Livingstone, London's mayor, has defended his police chief, saying: "Sir Ian Blair has been a leading force for expanding police numbers and developing neighbourhood policing in the capital, based on the highest professionalism and working tirelessly with London's many communities to ensure that the Met takes seriously the needs of all Londoners."
And a Downing Street official told the FT that Tony Blair's view of Sir Ian had not changed since the prime minister gave him his firm support at his monthly press conference two weeks ago.
