The London Assembly announced yesterday that water cannon should not be made available for use against protesters this summer.

Mayor Boris Johnson and the Metropolitan Police had failed to make the case for purchasing three second-hand water cannon, a new report by the London Assembly police and crime committee has concluded.

The Water cannon: Why the Met’s case doesn’t wash report rejected the argument for an “interim solution” before a Home Office decision on the national case for making the weapons available for the first time on mainland Britain.