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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Smith under fire over police raid | Smith under fire over police raid |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has come under attack during a statement to MPs about the police raid on Tory MP Damian Green's Parliamentary office. | Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has come under attack during a statement to MPs about the police raid on Tory MP Damian Green's Parliamentary office. |
| She said she had not known he was to be arrested - and said that even if she had known it would have been "wholly inappropriate" to intervene. | She said she had not known he was to be arrested - and said that even if she had known it would have been "wholly inappropriate" to intervene. |
| Tory Dominic Grieve asked: "Who is in charge of the police, if she isn't?" | |
| Ex-Labour home secretary John Reid said he would have expected to have been informed before an MP was arrested. | |
| Speaker Michael Martin had to intervene to tell MPs not to shout out at one point as Ms Smith made her Commons statement on last Thursday's arrest. | Speaker Michael Martin had to intervene to tell MPs not to shout out at one point as Ms Smith made her Commons statement on last Thursday's arrest. |
| She said the police had been called in by the Cabinet Office, after a series of internal leak inquiries had not found the source and there had been concern that someone with access to "sensitive material" was prepared to leak it. | She said the police had been called in by the Cabinet Office, after a series of internal leak inquiries had not found the source and there had been concern that someone with access to "sensitive material" was prepared to leak it. |
| 'Effective conduct' | 'Effective conduct' |
| She said it was not simply a matter that leaks were "politically embarrassing" but said they struck at the impartiality of the civil service. | She said it was not simply a matter that leaks were "politically embarrassing" but said they struck at the impartiality of the civil service. |
| It had been appropriate to call in the police faced with the apparent "systematic leaking of classified information over a sustained period" and "given the damage that this was doing to the effective conduct of government business". | It had been appropriate to call in the police faced with the apparent "systematic leaking of classified information over a sustained period" and "given the damage that this was doing to the effective conduct of government business". |
| "The sustained level of leaking that had already taken place clearly suggested that this could go on, would escalate, and that more information of greater sensitivity could potentially leak." | "The sustained level of leaking that had already taken place clearly suggested that this could go on, would escalate, and that more information of greater sensitivity could potentially leak." |
| Heavy-handed and incompetent at best, and at worst an unwarranted assault on our democracy Dominic GrieveShadow home secretary Concerns over Speaker's inquiryAssistant Commissioner Bob Quick's letter in full | Heavy-handed and incompetent at best, and at worst an unwarranted assault on our democracy Dominic GrieveShadow home secretary Concerns over Speaker's inquiryAssistant Commissioner Bob Quick's letter in full |
| She told MPs she knew about the arrest of a civil servant over Home Office leaks, but had not know an arrest of an MP was pending and would not have got involved if she had. | She told MPs she knew about the arrest of a civil servant over Home Office leaks, but had not know an arrest of an MP was pending and would not have got involved if she had. |
| But she was attacked by shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve who said her position was "utterly flawed". | But she was attacked by shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve who said her position was "utterly flawed". |
| Her predecessor as home secretary, the Labour MP John Reid, said he would have expected to have known in advance about Mr Green's arrest. | Her predecessor as home secretary, the Labour MP John Reid, said he would have expected to have known in advance about Mr Green's arrest. |
| 'Placid' response | 'Placid' response |
| He said he would not have been as "placid" in his reaction to not being informed as Ms Smith appeared to have been. | He said he would not have been as "placid" in his reaction to not being informed as Ms Smith appeared to have been. |
| Mr Grieve said there was not "the slightest evidence" that the arrest had anything to do with national security and said his party took the integrity of official secrets very seriously "despite attempts by government spokesman to smear and spin to the contrary." | Mr Grieve said there was not "the slightest evidence" that the arrest had anything to do with national security and said his party took the integrity of official secrets very seriously "despite attempts by government spokesman to smear and spin to the contrary." |
| He told MPs the issues at stake were very serious: "They involve basic ministerial oversight over counter-terrorism police operations against a member of this House. Heavy-handed and incompetent at best, and at worst an unwarranted assault on our democracy." | He told MPs the issues at stake were very serious: "They involve basic ministerial oversight over counter-terrorism police operations against a member of this House. Heavy-handed and incompetent at best, and at worst an unwarranted assault on our democracy." |
| I was not arrested for counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office Damian Green | I was not arrested for counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office Damian Green |
| Speaker Michael Martin is coming under growing pressure after he admitted on Wednesday that police who raided Mr Green's office did not have a warrant. | Speaker Michael Martin is coming under growing pressure after he admitted on Wednesday that police who raided Mr Green's office did not have a warrant. |
| Several MPs asked during the debate whether police had sought a warrant to search Mr Green's offices, and if so, whether it had been refused. | Several MPs asked during the debate whether police had sought a warrant to search Mr Green's offices, and if so, whether it had been refused. |
| Ms Smith repeatedly referred MPs to a letter from Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Bob Quick which she had placed in the Commons library. | Ms Smith repeatedly referred MPs to a letter from Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Bob Quick which she had placed in the Commons library. |
| Leaking precedent | Leaking precedent |
| The letter states a warrant was not sought as there was "no basis" to submit to a Justice of the Peace that it was believed consent to enter the premises would be refused. | The letter states a warrant was not sought as there was "no basis" to submit to a Justice of the Peace that it was believed consent to enter the premises would be refused. |
| For the Lib Dems, Chris Huhne said the leaking of information was justified in many circumstances, and called for new legislation to protect whistleblowers. He also said Ms Smith had landed herself "in a muddle". | For the Lib Dems, Chris Huhne said the leaking of information was justified in many circumstances, and called for new legislation to protect whistleblowers. He also said Ms Smith had landed herself "in a muddle". |
| He said "formal procedures for holding the executive to account are so weak" they had been described as being "like heckling a steamroller". | He said "formal procedures for holding the executive to account are so weak" they had been described as being "like heckling a steamroller". |
| "It is essential that other means of having checks and balances are there and the leaking of information has a long and honourable precedent." | "It is essential that other means of having checks and balances are there and the leaking of information has a long and honourable precedent." |
| 'Synthetic indignation' | 'Synthetic indignation' |
| He also said, if the home secretary had been informed a search was to take place, that should "ring alarm bells". | He also said, if the home secretary had been informed a search was to take place, that should "ring alarm bells". |
| But Labour backbencher Sir Gerald Kaufman said the Tories had abolished the "public interest defence" for whistleblowers after Ministry of Defence official Clive Ponting was cleared for leaking information on the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falklands War. | But Labour backbencher Sir Gerald Kaufman said the Tories had abolished the "public interest defence" for whistleblowers after Ministry of Defence official Clive Ponting was cleared for leaking information on the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falklands War. |
| He criticised the "synthetic indignation of the Conservatives who seek one law for a Tory government ... and another law for a Labour government." | He criticised the "synthetic indignation of the Conservatives who seek one law for a Tory government ... and another law for a Labour government." |
| Labour backbencher David Winnick said MPs were not above the law but had to be able to carry out their parliamentary duties "without fear or favour". | Labour backbencher David Winnick said MPs were not above the law but had to be able to carry out their parliamentary duties "without fear or favour". |
| "If that is undermined, parliamentary democracy is undermined," he said. | "If that is undermined, parliamentary democracy is undermined," he said. |
| Some MPs questioned whether the Wilson Doctrine, which says MPs' phones and other communications will not be tapped, had been breached by an investigation into Mr Green's emails. | Some MPs questioned whether the Wilson Doctrine, which says MPs' phones and other communications will not be tapped, had been breached by an investigation into Mr Green's emails. |
| Mr Green was held on suspicion of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office and on suspicion of aiding and abetting misconduct in public office. The MP denies any wrongdoing. | Mr Green was held on suspicion of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office and on suspicion of aiding and abetting misconduct in public office. The MP denies any wrongdoing. |
| In a point of order during the debate Mr Green stood up to correct the home secretary, who had said he had also been arrested on suspicion of "counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office" - which he said was not on the arrest warrant he had been given. | In a point of order during the debate Mr Green stood up to correct the home secretary, who had said he had also been arrested on suspicion of "counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office" - which he said was not on the arrest warrant he had been given. |
| "I was not arrested for counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office she will understand the seriousness of her mistake and I would invite her to withdraw those words immediately." | "I was not arrested for counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office she will understand the seriousness of her mistake and I would invite her to withdraw those words immediately." |
| Ms Smith said she would take it up with the police, as she was reading from a publicly released statement made by them. | Ms Smith said she would take it up with the police, as she was reading from a publicly released statement made by them. |