Met's acting chief could step aside in Tory leak row

[Nostalgia]

The man tipped to become the new Metropolitan police commissioner was last night understood to be considering whether he should apply for the job, after a barrage of criticism from politicians on all sides over the arrest of the Conservative shadow Home Office minister Damian Green.

Sir Paul Stephenson, as acting head of the Met, ultimately sanctioned the arrest of Green over his role in publishing documents allegedly leaked to him by a mole in the Home Office.

His decision, described by one senior officer as "totally catastrophic", has led to a furious reaction from the Conservative party leader, David Cameron, the London mayor Boris Johnson and members of the cabinet, who are understood to be divided over the issue.

The deadline for applications for the top job at the Met is noon today and Stephenson is understood to be wondering whether the post is worth the flak.

"He is a man who does angst over things quite a lot and he will be thinking very hard about this," said one source.

Senior members of the cabinet have expressed deep disquiet over the treatment of Green, who was detained by police for nine hours last Thursday and forced to give a fingerprint and DNA sample. Some ministers voiced unease on the margins of a cabinet meeting in Leeds on Friday. They believe the police behaviour was heavy-handed and gave the impression that the state was attempting to block the opposition from holding the government to account. Other ministers said the police had good grounds to question Green.

Harriet Harman, the leader of the Commons, admitted yesterday that she was "very concerned indeed", about what had happened, though the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, refused to apologise and insisted the police were independent.

The Tories intensified the pressure last night by revealing further details of the police questioning of Green, who was arrested on suspicion that he had procured leaked documents from Chris Galley, a 26-year-old junior civil servant. Police allegedly accused the MP of "grooming" the young civil servant, in what was seen as an attempt to prove that Green had broken the law by offering inducements to procure leaked documents.

A Tory source said that Green was furious at the use of a word with such horrendous connotations. "This was clearly designed to provoke Damian. This is typical of the cack-handed way the police have handled this."

Such revelations will add to the pressure on the Met, and specifically Stephenson, who was seen as the favourite to succeed Sir Ian Blair as the new commissioner. He is understood to have had a furious row with Johnson on Thursday after telling him of the impending arrest.

A Scotland Yard source yesterday denied that anyone had been bugged as part of the inquiry, after speculation that the police listened in to calls between Green and the civil servant accused of leaking documents to him. Police sources stressed that they were investigating whether Green had aided, abetted and encouraged the civil servant to procure the information.

Senior officers were split over whether the MP should have been investigated or arrested at all, it emerged yesterday. Some within Scotland Yard viewed the issue as a disciplinary one for the civil service, and not a criminal matter at all.

Publicly the Met is defending its actions, saying there was nothing unusual about the use of 20 officers to carry out searches and the arrest of Green. "There were four addresses, five officers for each address," the source said.

"The investigation is ongoing. That is all we are saying."

There was also a row brewing between the Crown Prosecution Service and the police. The Guardian has been told that the CPS was involved in the decision by Bob Quick, the Met's assistant commissioner of specialist operations, to arrest Green. But the CPS angrily denied it was party to the decision to arrest, saying: "We were involved only in the preliminary stages of the investigation."

It emerged that the arrest had not been sanctioned by the new director of prosecutions, Keir Starmer. A spokesman for the CPS said Starmer had only been informed shortly before detectives swooped.

This is crucial to another growing row - the decision by the Commons sergeant at arms, Jill Pay, and the speaker, Michael Martin, to allow police to search Green's office. Pay reportedly gave the go-ahead after police told her that the DPP had given his approval to the arrest. Martin is due to make a statement on Wednesday.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said the police may have misled Pay. "One way of reading the contradictory explanations between the sergeant at arms and what the DPP has said is that the police misled her. That's a very serious issue which needs to be looked into," he told Sky News.

A spokesman for Martin said: "The Speaker will be speaking to the house when the house returns."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...e-damian-green

Ian Blair [Ex] MET Chief basically sanctioned killing an innocent party and Stephenson sanctions the arrest, detention and addition to the PNC of an MP covered by Parliamentary privilege!?

It's nice for once however to read such a high profile story and hope the MET Chiefs NEVER learn and we can roll back anti-terror legislation or maybe just set a quota where arrests under anti-terror legistlation must at least be in some way related to terrorism in say ~5% of cases .. though I think ~0.5% or even 0.05% would be far more realistic.

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Justice4Jean marks Met chief's last day

(Friday 28 November 2008)

by ADRIAN ROBERTS




FRIENDS and family of murdered Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes marked Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair's last day on Friday by delivering him a special indictment.

Six members of the Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign arrived at New Scotland Yard, the Met's headquarters, and unveiled a three-metre long banner which bore a picture of Mr de Menezes and the message "Sir Ian Blair - This is your legacy."
The indictment, which was accepted by officers, accused Sir Ian of evading responsibility, misleading the public, authorising a shoot-to-kill policy, trying to block an investigation, fighting the health and safety prosecution and failing to hold anyone in his force accountable.
Mr de Menezes was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station in July 2005 and at the time Sir Ian claimed the shooting was "directly linked" to anti-terror operations.
But the Brazilian electrician was later found to be innocent and Sir Ian is accused by Mr de Menezes's family and friends of "misleading" the public over the incident.
A Justice4Jean campaign spokeman said: "We are delivering this indictment as a reminder of Blair's failings over the Menezes shooting and to ensure that his successor understands that, until there is justice for the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, this case will continue to blight the Metropolitan Police Service.
"It is particularly pertinent that we delivered this indictment today, as next week the jury at the inquest return to begin deliberating their verdict.
"We hope the jury will be given the opportunity to consider a verdict which is appropriate to the injustice of the killing and that these ordinary members of the public deliver a verdict which will finally allow some justice to prevail over this tragedy," the spokesman said.
Speaking on his last day in office, Sir Ian said that he remained "dreadfully sorry" for the death of Mr de Menezes.
He insisted that he did not know that an innocent man had been killed for almost 24 hours after the shooting.
"It's a matter of regret to me that I didn't know earlier, but I've got to trust.
"I do trust my subordinates and they told me when it was necessary for me to know," he declared.

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

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Tory's arrest 'an abuse of democracy'

(Sunday 30 November 2008)

by ADRIAN ROBERTS




LABOUR MP Jeremy Corbyn condemned the arrest of Tory frontbencher Damian Green over alleged Home Office leaks as an "abuse of our democratic system" on Sunday.

The shadow immigration minister and Ashford MP was detained on Thursday and held and questioned for nine hours.
His homes and offices, including his Commons office, were searched and his computer, phone and other communications equipment were seized in the raids.
Scotland Yard said that Mr Green had been held "on suspicion of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office."
The leaks are thought have included the disclosure of a whip's list of potential Labour rebels against 42-day detention for terror suspects.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith defended the right of police to question Mr Green, claiming that the case was more serious than had been reported.
But Mr Corbyn retorted that Mr Green had simply been doing his job.
"The abuse of time and expense in our democratic society wherein counter-terrorism officers arrested a Member of Parliament is a travesty of justice," he said.
"Damian Green was delivering a message to the public, regardless of whether the public or the government approve of that message. It is what he is elected to do."
The Islington North MP asked: "Have we forgotten what it means to have freedom of speech and the liberties that, until recently, used to accompany it?
"The number of people in high places who allegedly allowed the arrest to take place is also quite lengthy and thus astonishing, ranging from the mayor of London to the House of Commons administrators, none of whom should be in a position to dictate the course of justice in such a ground-breaking fashion.
"The charge laid against Green is the most warped interpretation I have heard yet of the work of an MP of any party. His job is to hold the government to account.
"We as politicians must defend our ability to act without fear or favour and it is in the public interest that each one of us holds ministers and public servants to account. Any actions that fall short of that reflect a deliberate flouting of democratic convention," said Mr Corbyn.