UK NEWS
HARMAN’S FEARS OVER ARREST OF ‘LEAKS’ MP
CONCERN: Harriet Harman
By Alison Little, Deputy Political Editor
HARRIET Harman yesterday broke Government ranks to join a chorus of concern at the arrest of Tory MP Damian Green in connection with a leak inquiry.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith refused to apologise to the Shadow Immigration Minister or to criticise the police.
But Leader of the Commons Ms Harman said she was “very concerned” about the arrest and how anti-terror officers raided Mr Green’s Parliamentary and constituency offices as well as his home.
She said there were some “very big constitutional principles” that needed to be safeguarded, including MPs’ right to do their jobs without interference from the law.
It followed the arrest last month of a Home Office official, believed to be Chris Galley, 26, in connection with alleged leaks to Mr Green who has denied any wrongdoing.
The leaks are thought to have included ministers’ knowledge that 5,000 illegal immigrants had been cleared to work as security guards and bouncers and news that an illegal immigrant was a Commons cleaner.
Ms Harman stressed that the state must have an impartial civil service, that MPs were “not above the law” and that police must have operational independence.
But once the investigation was over she would back any review by Commons Speaker Michael Martin into the rules governing how police can enter Parliament.
Ms Harman, Labour’s deputy leader and a former civil liberties activist, added that the seizure of computers also raised issues about the confidentiality of information given to MPs by their constituents.
Mr Martin faces MPs’ criticism after reportedly giving his permission for the police raid, which some believe breached time-honoured Parliamentary privilege.
Tory MP Douglas Carswell said he would demand Mr Martin’s resignation if it was confirmed he had authorised the raid. Former Labour minister Denis MacShane demanded a full statement from Mr Martin whose office said he would address MPs about the matter after the Commons resumes following Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech.
Ashford MP Mr Green was held by police for nine hours on Thursday “on suspicion of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office.”
The allegations are also understood to relate to a Labour whip’s list of potential rebels against proposals to hold terror suspects for up to 42 days and a letter from Ms Smith to Gordon Brown warning that the recession would spark a rise in crime.
Mr Green, who has been bailed until February, insists he was just doing his job. Party sources insisted that Mr Green had not actively requested information from the civil servant. They also disclosed that the MP had been particularly angered by police suggestions during questioning that he had been “grooming” his contact.
Former Tory leader Michael Howard said the arrest was a “fundamental affront to our democracy.”
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