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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Sir Gus surprised at MP's arrest | Sir Gus surprised at MP's arrest |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The head of the civil service has said he was surprised when police arrested senior Tory Damian Green as part of a Home Office leaks investigation. | The head of the civil service has said he was surprised when police arrested senior Tory Damian Green as part of a Home Office leaks investigation. |
| Sir Gus O'Donnell told MPs he was solely concerned about stopping the leaks, not where the probe would go. | Sir Gus O'Donnell told MPs he was solely concerned about stopping the leaks, not where the probe would go. |
| He insisted police were called because of national security fears, not because leaks were politically embarrassing. | He insisted police were called because of national security fears, not because leaks were politically embarrassing. |
| He said ex-shadow home secretary David Davis had said half the material they received was too sensitive to publish. | He said ex-shadow home secretary David Davis had said half the material they received was too sensitive to publish. |
| Defending the decision to ask the police to investigate, he referred to an interview Mr Davis did with the BBC on 28 November, in which he said much material the Tories received was not published because it was too sensitive. | |
| Favourable leaks | |
| Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus also pointed to a previous case in which a civil servant working in a police counter-terrorism unit had been jailed for leaking an intelligence report about the threat from al-Qaeda to a Sunday newspaper. | |
| One MP suggested he was happy to allow leaks that were favourable to the government, but took a stronger line against those that were politically embarrassing. | |
| I was surprised, to be honest, yes. Sir Gus O'Donnell | |
| "I completely refute that," Sir Gus told the Commons Public Administration. | |
| "I'm very upset by all leaks. It is important that the civil service is politically impartial and it's important we don't leak anything be it embarrassing, not embarrassing or national security." | |
| Tory MP Charles Walker replied: "I would strongly suggest, even advise... that you have every single special adviser in the Treasury investigated by the police because some of them have clearly been leaking information that is helpful to the government." | |
| The hearing comes weeks after Mr Green was arrested by police, who had been asked by the Cabinet Office to investigate leaks from the Home Office. | |
| A civil servant, Christopher Galley, had been arrested but neither he nor Mr Green have been charged. | |
| The arrest of an MP and police search of his Commons office prompted a huge political row, but Sir Gus said the decision to arrest Mr Green was a matter for the police. | |
| Asked if he was surprised about it, he replied: "I was surprised, to be honest, yes." | |
| "Our interest is in stopping the series of leaks... precisely whether they [the police] go is neither here not there." | |
| Asked about Mr Galley's history as a Conservative activist and whether that should have raised concerns during an internal leaks inquiry, he said previous political activity was no bar to working the civil service. | |
| The job attracted people with an interest in politics but that was no reason to think they would ignore the civil service code, he said. |