Thursday 4 December 2008

Stop Making Sense


Believe it or not, it is a rare occurrence for both sides of the House of Commons to be shouting ‘shame’ and ‘disgrace’ at each other simultaneously. But Jacqui Smith’s statement yesterday on her part in the Damian Green débacle drew such an extreme division. She managed to increase partisanship on an issue, which all members agree, raises fundamental questions on the roles and powers of Parliament, Ministers, officials and police.

For the majority of the Government side, she had correctly stood back and allowed a vital criminal inquiry to proceed against a wannabee Tory mole. To the rest of the House, she had allowed the police to suppress legitimate democratic enquiry and at the same time absolved herself of any oversight responsibility.

Where she could have enlightened, she obfuscated. Where she could have explained, she was evasive. When she did not like the question she plain ignored it, sometimes repeatedly.
Shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Grieve gave his usual lawlerly list; she treated him with sweeping contempt.

Judging her by the answers she avoided most studiously, there appear to be two main unresolved issues to be examined prior to Monday’s wider debate. Firstly, how the police managed to gain consent to search Mr Green’s Parliamentary office and why "it was believed" by AC Bob Quick, no warrant was required. Speaker Martin and Ms Smith must know more than they are willing to share. The legality and mode of the police operation hinges on this.

Second, whether any document which was to be leaked had any bearing on national security. If not, then the case for arresting an MP as a ‘proportionate’ action falls apart. I retain severe doubts. If these documents contain such sensitive material then it makes no sense to use a very broad (and archaic) common law offence instead of the Official Secrets Act.
The Home Secretary’s oft cited use of “potential” threat as a justification for turning an internal disciplinary matter into a criminal inquiry will not do. Almost any major policy document across a number of Departments could be viewed in that way. That line cannot be sustained.

It also seems incredible Jacqui Smith is determined to make a virtue out of her ignorance of events. Ministers being divorced from the operational decision-making of the police is just a truism. It is not the same to say all should defer to the police to the extent they can act without any reference to a higher authority. Boris Johnson, as Chair of the Met Police Authority, was given notice and expressed angrily how ill-advised the arrest would be.
Any previous Home Secretary like Blunkett, Clarke or Reid would be somewhere between livid and incandescent to have not been informed in advance of such a high profile arrest. Her predecessor, John Reid in a restrained tone, said to the House, "I am surprised, to say the least [she] was not informed." He added, as Home Secretary he would have wanted to, "express a view on the matter." He then alluded to her error of judgement, “she has said that even if she had been informed, she would not have acted differently, I do not think that we should take that as a ruling that someone in her position should never be informed.”

The police have often shown they lack the necessary political sensitivity and media awareness to be allowed to pursue such exceptional cases without any level of ‘supervision’.
It is nonsense to say these lines of authority do not cross at all. Reid knows it, even Boris Johnson knows it and if Jacqui Smith does not, then after 18 months still hasn't got a grip on what a Home Secretary does.

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