Damian Green is the opposition immigration spokesman, he is a politician with a good reputation for straight dealing. His arrest was a purely political stunt linked to a search for the source of leaks of information which is not of a sensitive, or security/terrorist related nature, it is information about immigration which should be in the public domain. Many of the left (although to be fair even some of them are disquieted by this) are desperately trying to spin this away. It is the action of a police state. Funny that 11 years ago we had a fresh faced young Prime Minister who was virtually a policy free zone who campaigned on his ability to bring 'change'
promising 'things can only get better' ...
Mr Green was arrested on Thursday afternoon over leaks of politically sensitive information from the Home Office. Counter-terrorism officers searched his Kent and London homes and his constituency and House of Commons offices.
A political row has broken out over the incident. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary was not pre-warned about the arrest and the Government has categorically denied that the Prime Minister had any prior knowledge. Yet Mr Cameron, the Tory leader, Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London and the Speaker and Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons have confirmed they were all informed.
Speaking outside his London home on Friday morning, Mr Cameron said that while "ministers tell us they didn't know" about the arrest, they and the police must now explain the decision.
"They've got some serious questions to answer. If they didn't know, what they've got to say is what they think of it," Mr Cameron said, adding that Mr Green had been working to disclose information in the public interest.
"In our democracy, I really don't think that what has happened is right," he said.
David Davis, the former shadow home secretary, described the move as "somewhere between an astonishing error of judgment and judicial intimidation".
"Damian Green was doing his job, he was holding the Government to account ... None of [the documents] put the national intelligence, national security or international relations at risk," Mr Davis said, "Yet we end up with a situation that is in some way reminiscent of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, with an opposition spokesman being arrested for nine hours. It is extraordinary, frankly." ...
linkSuch a shame that I am too old to be able to emigrate.
