Britannia Radio

This scandal develops by the minute.  I close this post at 1310 hrs 
but will immediately open the matrix for the next one!

Brown has made some fatuous statement which merely shows indifference 
to the gathering storm .  After the TV clips of his manipulation of 
leaks in 1996 and his pride in "my treasury mole" then, this is 
nauseating

xxxxxxxxxx cs
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CONSERVATIVE HOME Blog   1.12.08
Richard Bacon MP: The Speaker has let us down in something of 
incalculable importance

Richard Bacon is Conservative MP for South Norfolk and a Member of 
the Public Accounts Committee.  In this piece he contends that "a 
string of resignations" may be necessary to rectify the attack on 
Parliamentary sovereignty that last week's raid on Damian Green's 
Commons office represented.

The arrest of Damian Green is a catastrophe.  It raises exceptionally 
serious questions about the behaviour of the police, the actions of 
both ministers and senior civil servants in the Home Office and the 
conduct of the Speaker of the House of Commons.

The right to oppose the government of the day is vastly more 
important than which political party happens to hold office.  It is 
the cardinal fact which defines us as a free country.

If Damian Green were suspected of murdering someone, there would be 
no objection to gathering evidence where ever necessary.  But this is 
not the case.  He is an effective Opposition politician who has 
exposed facts which the government finds embarrassing and which the 
public has a right to know.

Ministers say they were kept in the dark about Green’s arrest.  This 
is barely credible but if it is true then what were civil servants up 
to?  Sir David Normington, the permanent under-secretary at the Home 
Office, is in the firing line because he should not have triggered 
the police investigation.  And the police – in the person of Sir Paul 
Stephenson, the acting head of the Met Police – should have refused 
Normington’s request, telling him that leaks of unclassified 
documents were not a matter for the police.

Neither seems to have understood that we don’t do political arrests 
in this country and that the legitimate job of the Opposition – paid 
for by taxpayers – is to annoy the government and hold it to 
account.  The fact that civil servants thought ministers being 
annoyed was a reason to call in the police is bad enough.  The fact 
that the police should think that ministers and senior civil servants 
being annoyed was enough to warrant police action is truly alarming.   
Stephenson has shown that he lacks sound judgement.  [And should not, 
therefore, attain the top job -cs]

What is worst of all – profoundly shocking – is that the police 
should search an MP’s office looking for material given to that MP by 
civil servants.  In common with other MPs, I have been sent material 
by civil servants which it was in the public interest for everyone to 
know about.  As a member of the public accounts committee, I was sent 
a dossier in 2006 by a civil servant who was distressed that foreign 
workers were abusing the tax credit system to buy homes abroad.  The 
insider sent me documentary evidence that immigrants from eastern 
Europe were coming to the UK, taking low-paid jobs and then applying 
for tax credits.  Once the claim had been set up, the fraudsters were 
returning to their home country but the tax credit payments continued 
to be paid into their bank accounts.  They then used the money to buy 
property in eastern Europe. Meanwhile, the experienced anti-fraud 
teams in HM Revenue and Customs who could have helped the situation 
were being made redundant to meet government efficiency targets.

I passed on the material to the National Audit Office for 
investigation but I would not have tolerated the police snooping 
around my office looking for it, which would have exposed the civil 
servant in question.  It is paramount that MPs can hold information 
without fearing a knock on the door from the police.

What is truly surprising in this episode is that the Speaker of the 
House of Commons allowed the search of an MP’s office to take place.   
I cannot accept that this was the correct decision.  It leaves me 
wondering how I can have any confidence that the Speaker would defend 
my right as a Member of Parliament to hold sensitive information 
without the fear of a police raid.

If the Speaker knew about the proposed raid and gave clearance for 
it, he made a dreadful mistake.  [Benedict Brogan says he knew at 
7.30 am .... see below -cs]  If he didn’t know about the raid until 
it was too late to stop it, then he still failed to defend the rights 
of MPs.  I have a sinking feeling that the Speaker has let us down in 
something of incalculable importance and that it is now hard to see 
what he is there for.

We have to know how this happened: exactly who gave permission for 
the raid on Damian Green’s office at Westminster?  The police would 
not have taken this action without permission.

The only certain fact is that the raid occurred.  It seems unlikely 
that the granting of permission for a police raid would have been the 
unaided decision of the Serjeant-at-Arms, Jill Pay.  [again - see 
Brogan] She is a servant of the Speaker and would not have had 
authority to give permission without consulting either the Speaker or 
the Clerk of the House.

The position of the Clerk of the House, Malcolm Jack, is central. 
Either the Clerk of the House was consulted and he advised that the 
raid should be permitted; or he was consulted and he advised that it 
was not permissible but he was ignored; or he was not consulted.  If 
he was not consulted this would beg two questions: Why not? And why 
hasn’t he said so?

The basic premise must be that the Clerk of the House would have been 
consulted by the Speaker.  If this is the case, then either the 
Speaker went against the advice of the Clerk of the House, which is 
difficult to believe, or the Clerk of the House advised that the raid 
was permissible.  The logic of the position is that the Clerk of the 
House was consulted and advised that the raid was acceptable.  And it 
wasn’t.  So his position may be in doubt.

The Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman, appears to 
understand the magnitude of what has happened.  Senior Labour Party 
figures such as David Blunkett and others have also expressed their 
disquiet.  Our political system can only operate if there is 
agreement between the parties on certain fundamentals.  One of these 
is that those in government do not use the resources of the State to 
harry and intimidate their opponents.

The Sessional Orders which the Speaker will read out on Wednesday at 
the State Opening of Parliament refer to the “undoubted rights and 
privileges” of MPs. This means something.  It is of course true that 
so long as the government commands a majority in the Commons it 
should get its business after due debate.  But on Wednesday, before 
we debate the Queen’s Speech – which is after all just one 
legislative programme of one particular government – we will need to 
debate something of much more fundamental and lasting importance, 
which is the rights of MPs and Parliament in our State.

We are not a free people by accident.  It is the result of choices 
and hard work and lives given in sacrifice.  This whole business 
makes me suspect that the ruling elite are losing respect for those 
in whose interest they are meant to be functioning.

A parliamentary colleague has been arrested for doing his job.   
Making this right and protecting our Parliament transcends everything 
else. There may be the need for a string of resignations.  It is 
imperative that these events do not set a precedent but rather that 
they define the point at which those responsible finally understand 
that they have gone too far and that they must pay the price for 
having done so.
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DAILY MAIL Brogan Blog     1.12.08
Exclusive: Did the Clerk do it?
    by Benedict Brogan

I've gleaned some more details about the events last week that led to 
the police entering the Palace of Westminster and raiding Damian 
Green's office. The chronology went something like this:

Wednesday: a superintendent from the Met, who works for counter-
terrorism boss Bob Quick, visits Serjeant at Arms Jill Pay in the 
afternoon. He tells her that detectives want to search an unnamed 
MP's office the next day. She has told colleagues that the super 
assured her the Director of Public Prosecutions approved the raid 
earlier in the week. Ms Pay contacts the Clerk of the Commons Malcolm 
Jack, who approves the search because it has been 'approved by the 
DPP'.  [The DPP denies any involvement -cs] Ms Pay then notifies the 
Speaker that she may need to speak to him urgently the next day. By 
about 8pm Parliament is prorogued and Michael Martin has left he 
building. He tells MPs he will make a statement to the House when it 
returns.

Thursday: At about 6.45am Ms Pay is visited again by a Met oficer, 
who confirms the search will take place later that day. She notifies 
the Speaker at about 7.30am. The Tory leadership is notified at 
lunchtime.

Friday: The Commons authorities suspend Mr Green's Commons email 
account at the request of the Met.

As you can see there are a lot of holes in there, and questions that 
need answering. I'm particularly intrigued by the role of the Clerk, 
who has so far escaped scrutiny. What steps did Mr Jack take to 
satisfy himself that the DPP had indeed approved this adventure? And 
what questions did Mr Martin ask? Already this morning I've had a 
stream of phone calls from fizzing MPs. I should point out what may 
already be obvious to you: that by sticking to the admittedly 
honourable convention that he should tell the Commons first, Mr 
Martin has left a dangerous vacuum where there should be facts.
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POLITICS HOME Blog   1.12.08
Comments on Police Scandal
===========================
Sky News at 12:26
Smith: Police should carry out their investigations without fear or 
favour

Jacqui Smith, Home secretary

Ms Smith denied that she’d knew Damien Green was to be arrested, and 
said that the police should be allowed to carry out investigations 
“without fear or favour”.

“I said I think it is a serious issue. What I also strongly believe 
is that police should carry out investigations without fear or 
favour. That’s a principle I believe.

“Nobody is above the law, the police should carry out their 
investigations without fear or favour.”  [3 times !!! -cs]
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BBC News at 11:22
Carswell: The Speaker's explanation better be good

Douglas Carswell, Conservative MP

Mr Carswell described the Damian Green arrest and the issues 
surrounding it as "outrageous", and bemoaned a “serious lack of 
accountability”.

“I think there’s a serious lack of accountability.  It’s more like 
Zimbabwe – it’s outrageous.

“Why do we have a Home Secretary sitting in the Home Office if we 
have Sir Humphrey Appleby types running the show? It is quite 
outrageous.

“It’s happened on Speaker Martin’s watch. Wednesday’s explanation had 
better be good.”
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Today, Radio 4 at 08:23
Straw: Green arrest “outside the normal course of events”

Jack Straw, Justice Minister

Mr Straw defended the decision of Jacqui Smith not to apologise for 
the Damian Green arrest, but conceded that the arrest was “outside 
the normal course of events” and added that he was "very surprised" 
by the nature of it.

“If the investigation is at the instigation of your own department…
there are still more reasons why the Home Secretary should stand back 
from it.

“If  the Home Secretary had offered an apology there would be a huge 
furore about the Home Secretary prejudging the actions of the police.

“The Home Secretary is very concerned about this. Of course she 
understands  the significance. It is outside the normal course of 
events."

He added that he thought it likely that there would be a review of 
the issues surrounding the arrest given the level of concern that has 
arisen, and added,  “I understand the concerns of my parliamentary 
colleagues.

“We don’t have a police state here, despite the ridiculous headlines. 
We have an independent police service. What’s important here is that 
politicians don’t interfere with the police process.”  [BUT THEY DID! 
That’s the problem! -cs]
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Sky News at 08:20
Grieve: Smith was "happy to wash her hands" of police inquiry

Dominic Grieve, Shadow Home Secretary

Mr Grieve said there was not "any validity whatsoever" into the 
claims that Green had "groomed" a civil servant, criticising the Home 
Secretary's remarks on the arrest.

"I take the view that it is not our business to jeopardise national 
security through leaks at all.

"If people come forward with information - it is an MP's 
responsibility and duty to put that information before the public.

"Jacqui Smith was happy to wash her hands of this police inquiry.

"Many parliamentarians feel we are not able to do our duty - present 
members of the Parliament including the Prime Minister have done what 
Damian Green has done in the past.

"Damian Green has made it quite clear that he has groomed absolutely 
no one at all.

"It is not apparent to me how the grooming is supposed to have taken 
place."

BBC News at 08:40

Shortly after Mr Grieve continued to remark on the Home Secretary's 
response to the Green arrest.

"She said in her remarks that she fully accepted that Members of 
Parliament were justified in using information from whistle-blowers 
to embarrass the government.

"Yet here we have the unique case where a Member of Parliament has 
been arrested. There is no credible explanation for why the police 
have behaved in this fashion.

"Ken Clarke said that he has Home Secretary would have been expected 
to have been informed into the way the investigation was being reported.

"I pick up that there are many Members of Parliament who feel great 
disquiet as to what has happened - they are going to need reassurance."
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Today, Radio 4 at 07:25
MacShane: The Speaker has to say this will not happen again

Denis MacShane, Labour MP

Mr MacShane said that the Speaker has to make clear on Wednesday that 
the manner of the Damian Green arrest must not be allowed to happen 
again.

“The police have to understand that MPs are not above the law…as an 
MP acting politically for constituents they need to know everything 
they say to me will be safe in my files.

“The Speaker has to say on Wednesday: this will not happen again.