Police in London remain under orders to shoot to kill suspected suicide bombers despite the death of an innocent man in July, Sir Ian Blair, the head of Scotland Yard, said yesterday.

He told MPs that after reviewing the policy, which was drawn up in secret after the attacks in America on September 11, 2001, he could see no alternative approach that would help protect Londoners from terrorists.
"It is the least worst option," he said in evidence before the Commons home affairs select committee.