Terror of Tory MP's daughter as NINE anti-terror police raid his home
By James Chapman and Ian Drury
Last updated at 4:03 PM on 28th November 2008
Extraordinary details of the heavy-handed police operation against
Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green were revealed this afternoon.
Nine counter-terrorism officers raided the MP's London home, frightening
his 15-year-old daughter Verity and wife Alicia who were there.
Mr Green was seized at his constituency home in Ashford, Kent, and held
at Belgravia police station for nine hours, only one of which was used
to question him about his alleged crime - leaking information
embarrassing to the Home Office.
As fury grew over the way an elected MP had been treated after helping
to expose Government blunders, the Evening Standard revealed that when
his Commons and constituency offices were searched his mobile phone,
Black-Berry and computers were all removed for examination, complete
with confidential files stored on them.
His e-mail account had been disabled.
Messages were bounced back with the terse explanation: 'your message
wasn't delivered because of security policies'.
A Tory source said angrily: 'He cannot do his job, which means the
voters of Ashford have been disenfranchised by the police.'
The affair was turning into the biggest row over Whitehall leaks since
the prosecution of civil servant Clive Ponting in 1985, over leaks about
the Belgrano sinking, and the jailing of Sarah Tisdall in 1983 for
leaking secrets about US cruise missiles in the UK.
By contrast, however, the molehunt at the Home Office was for the source
of a stream of stories that embarrassed the Government rather than
threatened national security.
They included that 5,000 illegal migrants had been cleared to work in
security.
Last week a junior Home Office official, aged 26, was arrested.
Tory leader David Cameron said police and ministers had 'serious
questions' to answer, particularly about the use of counter-terrorism
officers.
He added the operation was 'extraordinary and frankly rather worrying.'
David Davis, the former Shadow Home Secretary, said Mr Green's job was
exposing failures in the Government and that the arrest was 'reminiscent
of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe'.
He added that Winston Churchill relied on a Whitehall whistleblower to
expose lack of preparedness before the Second World War.
'If the police had applied these rules in the thirties, Churchill would
not have been Prime Minister - he would have been a prisoner,' he
said.
Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said: 'The fundamental duty of the
Metropolitan Police is to protect Londoners from harm, not the
Government from political embarrassment.
Mr Green, 52, was finally released on unconditional bail shortly before
midnight without charge but must return to face further questioning in
February.
The MP described his arrest as 'astonishing'
Speaking outside Parliament this morning he said: 'I emphatically deny I
have done anything wrong.'
Some Tories suspected that the action was an attempt to intimidate other
civil servants tempted to leak documents, especially from the Treasury
where ministers think there is a high-placed Tory mole.
Furious party officials said the move was of such a sensitive nature
that Downing Street and the Home Office must have been notified.
Extraordinarily, it emerged that Mr Cameron, Boris Johnson and Commons
Speaker Michael Martin were all informed about the raids.
Yet Gordon Brown insisted he had no advance knowledge of Mr Green's
arrest.
He said: 'I had no prior knowledge, the Home Secretary had no prior
knowledge, I know of no other minister who had any prior knowledge.
'I knew about it only after it had happened when I was told by the
Permanent Secretary to the Civil Service that this had happened.
'As I said to him, this is a matter for the police, they are carrying
out an investigation. It is not a matter for Government ministers.
'The independence of the police is what should be upheld. I hope that
everybody can feel able to uphold both the independence of the police
and the statement that no minister was involved.'
Mr Cameron has called for explanations from both the police and
Government ministers.
He said: 'The police have to answer questions. Frankly, government
ministers have got questions to answer as well. If they didn't know, why
weren't they told?
'What do they think about in Britain today, counter-terrorism police are
spending their time searching an MP's office, arresting him, holding him
for nine hours, all on a day when British citizens are being killed on
the other side of the world and all because, as far as I can see, he
made public some information that was in the public interest that the
Government found uncomfortable.
'Well, let's hope that our democracy hasn't come to that.
'If they wanted to talk to Damian Green, why not pick up the telephone
and ask to talk to him?'
Mr Green was arrested on suspicion of an obscure offence of 'conspiring
to commit-misconduct in a public office' - for which the maximum
sentence is life imprisonment .
The information Mr Green, MP for Ashford in Kent, is accused of leaking
includes a Home Office memo revealing that an illegal immigrant had been
working in the House of Commons as a cleaner.
Another leaked document suggested a cover-up by Home Secretary Jacqui
Smith of a massive Government blunder over thousands of illegal
immigrants cleared to work in sensitive Whitehall security jobs.
Mr Cameron was understood to be satisfied that all of the information Mr
Green is accused of making public was 'categorically' in the public
interest.
Mr Green, who was arrested just before 2pm, was released without charge
from Belgravia police station late last night saying he was 'tired and
angry'.
Sources close to Mr Cameron insisted the Shadow minister would remain in
his job ' whatever the outcome'.
Party officials questioned the timing of the operation, pointing out
that it came on outgoing Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian
Blair's last day in office.
Sir Ian - dubbed 'New Labour's favourite copper' for the politicised
nature of his leadership - was effectively forced out by the Tory Mayor
of London, Boris Johnson.
Last night the Daily Mail learned that Mr Johnson was informed of Mr
Green's impending arrest in advance and expressed outrage at the heavy-
handed nature of the operation.
A statement issued by the mayor's office said: 'The mayor finds it hard
to believe that on the day when terrorists have gone on the rampage in
India that anti-terror police in Britain have apparently targeted an
elected representative of Parliament for no greater crime than allegedly
receiving leaked documents.'
The fact that Mr Johnson was notified yesterday of the arrest suggests
it is highly unlikely that no one in Government was also informed.
Tory sources also said that had the arrest come while the House was
sitting, MPs would have questioned Mr Green's treatment in the chamber.
The Commons rose for a five-day break on Wednesday.
Senior Tory backbencher Patrick Mercer, a member of the influential Home
Office Select Committee, said the raid was 'clearly politically
motivated'.
'This is Jacqui Smith and Ian Blair exacting revenge and trying to even
up the score because they have been so publicly humiliated,' said Mr
Mercer.
'It is extraordinary that a shadow minister should be subjected to this
kind of treatment on these alleged grounds, especially by counter-
terrorism officers. It once again smacks of a police state.'
Former shadow home secretary David Davis said: 'Where have the
priorities of the Metropolitan Police gone? It would have been perfectly
possible for a couple of policeman to have interviewed him in the
office. He is an MP - he's not going to flee the country.
'For five years, I have avoided using the term 'police state' because I
think it is an over-the-top term, but the kind of things we have seen
today are the kind of thing you see in a police state or a banana
republic, not in Britain.'
Asked about Mr Green's arrest, shadow chancellor George Osborne told
BBC1's Question Time: 'I think it is absolutely extraordinary that the
police have taken that decision.
'It has long been the case in our democracy that Members of Parliament
have received information from civil servants. I think to hide
information from the public is wrong.
'It is very early days. It's an extraordinary case. I think there are
going to be some very, very big questions asked of the police.'
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: 'Receiving
information from government departments in the public interest and
publicising it is a key part of any MP's role.
'This is the most worrying development for many years, with the
potential to shift power even more conclusively from Parliament to the
Government.
'It is also extraordinary considering Gordon Brown himself as shadow
chancellor received and publicised many leaked official documents.
'It seems that either the law needs to be changed or the police have
overstepped the mark.'
This morning Mr Davis said the action was 'somewhere between an
astonishing error in judgment through to judicial intimidation'
The Haltemprice and Howden MP said Mr Green had only been 'doing his
job'.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'None of this put in any way
national intelligence, national security, or international relations at
risk - yet we end up with a situation that is in some way reminiscent of
Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, with an opposition spokesman being arrested
for nine hours. It is extraordinary, frankly.'
He added that he found it 'hard to believe' that ministers were not told
that Mr Green was about to be arrested.
Conservative former home secretary Ken Clarke indicated that he would
have been 'astonished' if his officials had failed to inform him that
such action was being taken.
'I cannot believe it,' Mr Davis said. 'Why were they not told?'
He questioned why at least nine counter-terrorism officers had been
detailed to search Mr Green's property, at a time when the UK threat
level was likely to be high in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a 52-year-old man 'has been
arrested on suspicion of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public
office and aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a
public office'.
Late last night police released another statement denying any
ministerial involvement in the decision to arrest Mr Green.
Police said: 'The investigation into the alleged leak of confidential
government material followed the receipt by the MPS (Metropolitan Police
Service) of a complaint from the Cabinet Office.
'The decision to make today's arrest was taken solely by the MPS without
any ministerial knowledge or approval.'
A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said: 'This is a matter for the
police. The Prime Minister had no prior knowledge of the arrest of Mr
Green and was only informed after the event.'
The statement said: 'The investigation into the alleged leak of
confidential government material followed the receipt by the MPS (
Metropolitan Police Service) of a complaint from the Cabinet Office.
' The decision to make today's arrest was taken solely by the MPS
without any ministerial knowledge or approval.'
As shadow immigration minister, Mr Green has won plaudits for getting
the Government on to the back foot on one of the key flashpoint issues
of modern politics.
Studious and self-deprecating, he is regarded as an 'attack dog' who has
succeeded in embarrassing Miss Smith over events in her department.
For a politician considered on the left of the Tory party, Damian Green
has made a huge impact handling the sensitive immigration brief.
A profile of Damian Green
For a politician considered on the left of the Tory party, Damian Green
has made a huge impact handling the sensitive imigration brief.
He has spoken out about genuine public concerns about the problems
caused by the unprecedented influx of foreigners into Britain, and has
opposed the controversial Sangatte II refugee camp near Calais.
The frontbencher has also weighed into stories accusing Home Secretary
Jacqui Smith of covering up warnings that thousands of illegal
immigrants had been cleared to work in Whitehall security jobs and a
dynamite Home Office briefing that crime, violence and terrorist numbers
will rise because of the economic slump.
The 52-year-old MP was made shadow minister for immigration after David
Cameron was elected party leader in 2005.
The MP for Ashford in Kent is not a traditional right-wing Tory,
possessing a pro-European outlook. He backed Ken Clarke's bid for the
leadership after the Tory trouncing at the 1997 election, when he won
the rock-solid seat.
On the basis of his strong performances in the Commons, he soon joined
the front bench and remained on it throughout the Parliament, most
notably as a pro-Kyoto environment spokesman.
In Iain Duncan Smith's first appointments, Green joined the shadow
cabinet as shadow education secretary. In this role, he announced the
Conservative intention to scrap tuition fees.
When Michael Howard was appointed leader, Green moved to the transport
portfolio, a position outside the shadow cabinet.
But in September 2004 he left the front bench completely after
reportedly refusing an alternative job. He returned to the backbenches
to argue for 'compassionate Conservatism' before Mr Cameron gave him a
fresh lifeline in 2005.
He is a former financial and business journalist, is indeed a rare flag-
carrier for One Nation, or 'wet', Tories of his generation in the
Commons.
Mr Green was a close ally of John Major, having served in the former
Prime Minister's policy unit from 1992 to 1994.
He is a leading member of both the Tory Reform Group and Conservative
Mainstream.
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Friday, 28 November 2008
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