The key is
whether the Police will hold firm and broker no interference from political
masters in the arrest this morning of No.10 insider Ruth Turner, the ongoing
investigation and the report that they are due to hand in to the
At stake tonight
is whether the Police can remain independent, or whether this government is a
dictatorship.
As one pundit
put it
‘The MPs and
government spokespeople criticizing the arrest are quite literally placing this
country on the road to dictatorship. They are entirely ignorant of the
separation of powers and quite unfit to hold high office. They clearly think
that (and David Blunkett confirmed this on Radio 4 this morning) MPs are in
charge of the police and can direct them. The only remaining act is for Blair
to sack the Commissioner and order the arrest of all opposition politicians.
Don't be surprised if this happens. We are in the middle of a crisis’.
Metropolitan
Police Federation chairman Glen Smyth told BBC News 24: "You get
government ministers and senior members of the Labour party criticising the
inquiry, which has frankly not even given a report to the Crown Prosecution
Service yet.
"What sort
of undue pressure are they trying to bring? If that's not what they are
intending, it's certainly the impression that they are leaving for the officers
involved and, I suspect, many other people.
I say that if the
police EVER want to be seen as public servants again, not political puppets,
and restore public faith in their abilities to apply the law fairly, Sir Ian
Blair, the ACPO and all the Police forces MUST be seen not to bow to any
political pressure, give unequivocal support to AC Yates, and to complete this
investigation and bring the perps to book, WHOEVER they are.
Blair's new Laws are not just for the 'masses and peasants' in NuLabs new world
order, but need to be applied, and seen to be applied, to all.
Senior opposition
politicians and the mainstream press were strangely quiet today, (although what
press reporting there was tended to be pro government) obviously waiting to see
the outcome of this
The
The government
spin appears to be co-ordinated by John McTernan, the Labour Party's Director
of Political Operations, who has been cancelling most of his scheduled meetings
since the arrest of Ruth Turner, and a few spoiler stories have been appearing
in the on-line press, 2 ‘royals’ stories (an old favourite of Downing St) and a
6 months old story of the Home Office being split into two, in what looks like
diversionary tactics.
It is well
recognised that on the road to dictatorship, a well healed and neutered press
is essential.
Another tactic
that may possibly show its face is having the investigation removed from the
Metropolitan Police under the direction of Asst Commissioner Yates, and handed
to the new SOCA (Serious Organised Crimes Authority), which unlike the Police
do not have Royal Charter, but report directly to the Home Secretary, and have
the potential to be used as political police.
In a move that is
likely to further heighten the public feeling that the government will try to stifle
this investigation, Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney-General, dismissed suggestions
that he would stand aside from decisions about whether to prosecute over the cash-for-honours
investigation.
In a letter
released by a Commons committee on Friday, Lord Goldsmith said that Lord
Falconer of Thoroton, the Lord Chancellor, was wrong to give an assurance that
he would not get involved in the case.
If the Metropolitan
Police loose this important battle, we may see changes in top jobs at the Met,
the
If this happens,
The world is
watching how this government will react this weekend.
How the Sunday
Papers see the crisis.
