Not to defend Tony Blair in any way but:
I was, of course, being sarcastic when I suggested Blair shoots, but if I had been serious, he could still have used the range with a legal firearm.
Glock 17 9mm? As opposed to the Glock 17 .45 ACP?
The Bobby outside 10 Downing Street (the one who stands at the door) is not armed. And if he was, he would be using an MP5 carbine, not an SMG. British police use semi-auto only MP5s the vast majority of the time. Full autos are brought out for planned SWAT-style operations though (I have no idea why, double-tap is far superior to full-auto, and British police use the double-tap method).
Actually,if you see some pictures of the previous PM,John Major, outside Downing Street,the copper on the doorstep is armed with a Glock 17 pistol-on a belt holster.During the Thatcher years,the cops had internal holsters,inside their pant legs,to conceal a Smith and Wesson revolver and this holster was accessed by means of the pants pocket.This is why the cops appears to be unarmed.
PC Trevor Locke,who guarded the Iranian Embassy before it was seized by Iraq gunmen,had a concealed .38,fitted into one of those holsters-which is why the Iraqis,didn't know that he was armed:they thought that British bobbies wern't armed,even those who guarded high-risk places,such as embassies,the Houses of Parliament,Buckingham Palace,etc,etc.Locke drew his .38 and nearly shot Salem in the head,with it-but an SAS trooper did the job for him,by using his MP5.Locke was wrestling with Salem,whilst he drew his gun.
The internal holster was around many years before Thatcher arrived anyway.
As for the MP5s,well you are probably correct,but it is rather silly for those cops,to only have semi-auto carbines,instead of those in smg format.