This story from Iain Dale, which under the circumstances I find remarkably calm.
It'salways dangerous to comment on breaking news stories. The full facts
are rarely known, but in the last half an hour quite a bit of
information has emerged, which should give all those who cherish our
freedoms and democracy great cause for concern.
At 2pm today
counter terrorism police arrested Damian Green MP at his constituency home
in East Kent. He was brought to London and currently is detained
awaiting interview. It is now 9.43pm and seven hours after his arrest,
he has, apparently, still to be questioned. These are the tactics of a
totalitarian state. According to reports, he was arrested for “aiding
and abetting misconduct in public office”. I'm not sure which law
pertains to this. Perhaps readers can enlighten us.
His “crime”
has been to reveal Home Office statistics and misconduct which they
tried to cover up. If it is now a crime for a politician to do this
sort of thing then just think how many other people should have been
arrested – Robert Peston being a good recent example. What about
government ministers who relished leaking information about the PBR?
One
of the most disturbing aspects of what we know so far is that the
Police were permitted by the Serjeant at Arms and The Speaker to search
Damian's House of Commons office. Outrageous. I would guarantee that if
Parliament had been sitting, they would never have dared. Their entry
would have been barred. One MP I have spoken to tonight said that he
would have physically barred their way and shouted for help to assist
him in preventing their entry.
The general public should be
appalled at these developments, as should the media. I am disturbed
that both Sky News and the Telegraph are already speculating that
Damian Green's position as Shadow Minister is under threat. They should
concentrate on the wider implications of this. If Green can be arrested
by counter terror police, what about the journalists who then reported
on the information Green allegedly gave them (detailed HERE)?
First they came for the politicians – then they came for the
journalists. It might be a well worn cliche, but there is a serious
point to be made.
There is no way that this arrest could have
happened without the involvement of Government ministers. We need to
know who instigated it and if the Prime Minister, Home Secretary or
Justice Secretary authorised it. One has to assume that Jacqui Smith
was the lead Minister.
If the Government feels unconstrained
about invoking anti terror legislation and deploying counter terror
police at a whim, on issues completely unrelated to terrorism, where
exactly are we heading?
We don't yet live in a Police State, but one be forgiven on nights like this from wondering if we are headed that way.
UPDATE
11.09: To those who have questioned why David Davis is not all over the
airwaves, I have just spoken to him. He has been speaking at a dinner
in Essex this evening and is on his way back to London now, heading
straight for the Sky studios. Not sure whether they know it yet though!
Suffice it to say, his dander is well and truly up.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, is said to be “extremely angry”
about the arrest and has privately accused the Government of
“Stalinesque” behaviour. Hmmm, why wont he do it publicly?
If this story does not burst the Westminster bubble for many of its inhabitants, hangers-on and commentators, then there is no hope for the rest of us. If those MP's who have been asleep whilst this totalitarian monster was being built don't get a jolt of reality out of this and move very quickly to dismantle this evil state apparatus, then they deserve to be next on the list of 'those to be detained'.
Today, and every day from now on, every MP needs to look over his shoulder to see who is watching him or her.
Picture
We have said this many times before, that when those who are complicit in building a totalitarian state have done their evil work, then they are expendable. In fact, in the dictators eyes, they are a liability. All those Labour MP's should remember that.
UPDATE 1:
23:20 Boris Johnson makes a statement:
grave concern over the arrest of Conservative front bencher, Damian
Green. Boris Johnson, who chairs the Metropolitan Police Authority
expressed his concerns – in trenchant terms – ahead of his arrest.
A
spokesman said the Mayor finds it hard to believe that on the day when
terrorist 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 Mayor told the new acting commissioner of the Met that
he would need to see convincing evidence that this action was necessary
and proportionate. He suggested that this is not the common sense
policing that people want when London faces a real potential terror
threat and serious knife crime problem on the streets.
UPDATE 2:
Spyblog indicates that the complaint came from the Cabinet Office, yet no-one is admitting to making that complaint. They also have the Met Police Statement.
Spyblog strongly suggest that any other Home Office or Treasury etc.
whistleblowers, and any investigative journalists, bloggers or
opposition politicians should read the Hints and Tips for Whistleblowers and Political Activists
- Technical Hints and Tips for protecting the anonymity of sources for
Whistleblowers, Investigative Journalists, Campaign Activists and
Political Bloggers
Some Obvious Questions:
- What is the name of the Metropolitan Police officer in charge of this political investigation ?
- Who exactly complained of an alleged criminal offence
by Damian Green ? The Cabinet Office instigated the original “Leak
inquiry”, but who decided to arrest Damian Green rather than just have
a informal chat with him, or even like former Labour Prime Minister
Tony Blair, during the far more serious “cash for honours” inquiry, a
private interview under caution ? - Did Damian Green give permission for his Palace of
Westminster office and Constituency office to be searched , or this a
breach of Parliamentary Privilege ? - Is this search of an opposition MP's office, a party political abuse of power by the (Labour) Speaker of the House of Commons ?
- Have the Metropolitan Police taken copies of privileged
documents or emails etc. to or from Damian Green's Constituents, which
have nothing to do with these alleged whistleblower leaks ? - Have the Metropolitan Police snooped on the Communications Traffic Data of
Damian Green's personal and Constituency and Conservative Party
political emails, mobile phone and landline phone calls and messages,
in order to try to identify his contacts with journalists and / or the
alleged Home Office whistleblower(s) ? - Have the Metropolitan Police intercepted the contents of
Damian Green's personal and Constituency and and Conservative Party
political, mobile phone and landline phone calls and messages ? - Where does this leave the Wilson Doctrine
? Has it been secretly changed, again, to permit political snooping and
harassment, under the transparently feeble excuse of “prosecution of
crime” ? - Has Damian Green been fingerprinted, photographed and DNA tissue sampled ?
