Life: But Not As We Know It

Damian Green's (left) revelation that the police had threatened him with a life sentence for receiving leaked immigration statistics was greeted by Labour members with a mixture of incredulity and embarrassment. PC Plod's attempts to intimidate an experienced MP with such ludicrous threats takes the farce of this inquiry to new levels. (It reminded me of the CIA's heavy-handedness with Monica Lewinsky who said both she and her mother were looking at 20 years in jug for mere possession of a stained dress.)

Jacqui Smith now says it was just an operational matter, as she attempts she take giant strides out of the spotlight. But she made a fierce defence of the police operation at the time as, "necessary" to halt the "systematic leaking" of "secret" material from her Department.
The DPP declared this week, "the information leaked was not secret information or information affecting national security, it did not relate to military, policing or intelligence matters. It did not expose anyone to a risk of injury or death. Nor, in many respects, was it highly confidential." Clearly the police are not able to deploy sufficient intelligence to assess whether there were national security issues. They should have taken a cursory look at the 'evidence' and told officials to sort out their own mess. To proceed with an arrest of an MP and search his offices without first consulting DPP or anyone in Government, who could realise the immense political fallout from such action, was a crass error.
Of course, the Home Secretary has insisted she was not party to any of the correspondence between officials and police. The original letter from Director of Security in Cabinet Office, Chris Wright, which initiated the police action was also copied to Jon Evans of MI5. It is pretty much unheard of for that level of exchange to be carried out without any Ministerial knowledge. If she is not lying then there is no better evidence to show she does not control her Department. Either way she is close to the exit door.
Monday afternoon should see her Waterloo when she reads statements on Bob Quick's resignation (Sun headline next day was, 'You can't quit quicker than a thick Quick quitter') and on the current policy on the issuing of student visas. Her refusal to address the Damian Green arrest, this highest of profile cases, will be self-defeating. She is handing political ammo to her opponent, the tenacious Chris Grayling. Oppostion members will not find it hard to turn questions on Bob Quick to the arrest of an MP. Speaker Martin will struggle to rule these questions 'out of order' when he himself was compelled to make an extra-ordinary statement to the House to explain why his office let Sargeant Thick tramp his size 12s all over Parliament. Smith's stonewalling of questions on Green promises to be a humiliating spectacle for terminally anxious Labour bankbenchers. It won't be long now.