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Government and police in firing line over MP's arrest

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Published Date: 29 November 2008
SENIOR police officers and politicians continued to face serious questions today over the controversial arrest of Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green.
The MP was held for nine hours on Thursday and his offices and homes searched over his alleged involvement in the leak of information from the Home Office. Premier Gordon Brown and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith have both insisted the decision to arrest him was purely a matter for police.





The full article contains 80 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 29 November 2008 11:04 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Evia,

29/11/2008 11:46:36
We all know that Gordon Brown can't be trusted to tell the truth.
2

steve 1511,

aberdeen 29/11/2008 12:44:53
our babbling eejit of a leader comrade broon of the liebour sleaze and corruption party has adopted tactics from the robert mcgabe method of dealing with the opposition mps lock them up,this is his next step to control the masses and opposition parties with cctv on every corner,and i d cards to spy on us at every opportunity,he must have been heartbroken when 42 days detention failed in the lords
WE ARE DOOMED WITH BROON,DOOOOOMED
3

Dominic, London,

29/11/2008 12:49:16
The Prime Minister said, "one thing I am determined to do is uphold the independence of the police."

Well, the best way to do that is to make sure his Home Secretary appoints a new Met Commissioner who is indeed independent.
4

Freedom writer,

Newcastle 29/11/2008 14:14:11
The reason that Gorden Brown and Jackie Smith didnt know about this arrest is simply that they are not in control and this means we do not live in a Democracy
This is what happens when we agree with weak politicians who bow to the will of the state and its ever more appetite for new Laws. This is why we are at War and have a Bankrupt Country and have lost our Freedom
5

disillusionedjeff,

Bristol 29/11/2008 14:55:57
was there really a need to arrest him . would he not voluntarily agree to be questioned ?
6

me150,

29/11/2008 16:32:14
The action taken was by the police not the government and it will come out in the wash if they were heavy handed or not. You might find out that the police had information linking him to something serious.

We might never find out but stop taking the easy action of blaming the government until the actual facts are known.
7

yockel,

29/11/2008 18:08:45
THe decision to arrest taken by Bob Quick who has only been in the job since February this year. Same man the Home Office asked to brief MP's on the pressing necessity for 42 day detention three months after joining the MET.
8

ednsasanaig,

Edinburgh 29/11/2008 19:06:50
Police independence! So at what point does our glourious leader consider it sensible to supervise the constabulary? Surprised they didnt try and keep Mr Green for a full 42 days.
9

Dougie - Edinburgh,

30/11/2008 13:42:30
Anyone who’s interested in the future of Britain should pay close attention to the outcome of Damian Green’s arrest. The government seems to have lost even the semblance of sanity by arresting a senior opposition politician on a ridiculous pretext presumably because somebody thinks he's about to release some information embarrassing to someone and using anti-terrorism police to ransack his house is the only way to cover it up.

Most people haven't noticed that Britain's becoming a police state because nobody's being beaten up in police cells and because the police don't bother fighting crime less serious than terrorism. But the police have become very political and this incident is only an extreme example of the kind of police action happening frequently now.

It’s just because Damian Green is so senior that his arrest is front page news. Just a few days ago, hardly making the news at all, there was a mass arrest of BNP activists in Liverpool on the pretext of handing out racially inflammatory leaflets - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7756247.stm - leaflets that the Crown Prosecution Service had previously agreed are not inflammatory but are completely legal. They were held for fourteen hours, had computers confiscated and then were released without charge because they hadn't done anything that they could be charged with. It's simply political harassment by a politicised police force. The same thing is happening in other EU countries - in Belgium and Austria there have been recent politically motivated arrests and prosecutions under implausible pretexts.
10

Dougie - Edinburgh,

30/11/2008 13:48:24
The decision may indeed have been taken by David Normington, a Home Office civil servant. But is it really plausible that a supposedly apolitical civil servant would take an overtly political step like this without direction from his political masters? This demonstrates that since New Labour became the government senior civil servants are no longer apolitical as they’re supposed to be and were until the late 1990s but are in fact highly politicised.

My guess is that Damian Green will also be released without charge and after a few days the media will lose interest. But more important is the decision making process that led to this outrageous abuse of police power which will only come out gradually and be confined to back pages if it’s reported at all.

 

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