British Opposition MP Arrested By Counterterrorism Officers

[Famine]

Oh yes, you read that right.

Here's the face of Al Qa'ida in the UK:

Wait, what?

And that list of offences for which he was arrested under the Act?

Conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office
Aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office

His arrest was at the behest of an individual working for the Home Office because Mr. Green chose to make public data that was in the public interest regarding officials elected by the public:

* The November 2007 revelation that the home secretary knew the Security Industry Authority had granted licences to 5,000 illegal workers, but decided not to publicise it.
* The February 2008 news that an illegal immigrant had been employed as a cleaner in the House of Commons.
* A whips' list of potential Labour rebels in the vote on plans to increase the pre-charge terror detention limit to 42 days.
* A letter from the home secretary warning that a recession could lead to a rise in crime.

And the individual who asked the police for help - Sir David Normington - did so because...

[the leaks] risked undermining the effective operation of my department.

Quick summary then - an MP makes public some data and is arrested by counterterrorism officers because it is data which might pose some tricky questions for the Home Office to answer.

*shakes head*

 

[Scaff]

Its part of the UK governments new policy on Zimbabwe, in an effort to show empathy and understanding for Mugabe they have adopted a similar political style.

Call it democracy, but make sure you lock up anyone who actually might try and put that into practice.


Shakes head in disbelief.


Scaff

 

[Famine]

Its part of the UK governments new policy on Zimbabwe, in an effort to show empathy and understanding for Mugabe they have adopted a similar political style.

Call it democracy, but make sure you lock up anyone who actually might try and put that into practice.

Oddly, I just saw this:

 

[Scaff]

Oddly, I just saw this:

I swear I didn't write it (but that's pretty much what I was thinking).

Scaff

 

[Omnis]

Looks like Vaclav Klaus is giving someone coal this year...

 

[Sureboss]

Oddly, I just saw this:

The only difference being that Gordie doesn't have a raisin for a moustache.

Frankly shameful arrest of this MP, even if he is a Tory.

 

[Touring Mars]

I don't like where Cameron and the Tories are going with this one little bit - they are trying to make as much political capital out of this as possible... blaming the Home Secretary, blaming Gordon Brown, accusing the police of being heavy-handed etc., releasing video footage of the search specifically timed to maximise publicity (just in time for the 6 o'clock news last night), whilst neglecting to mention the small fact that their man, Damien Green, is handling information that is classified and that he is colluding with somebody somewhere who is breaking the law...

If there is a leak/mole, and someone is suspected of breaking the law (and others are suspected of being involved and/or benefiting from such behaviour), then why shouldn't the police be allowed to investigate it?

The Tories are making this a party political issue when they shouldn't be... In this case, the nature of the information that Green felt compelled to make a matter of public interest is largely irrelevant - although some of it clearly is intended to embarrass Labour. But it is the means/process by which he obtained the information that is the issue. MPs may very well have the right to hold sensitive information, but they shouldn't be allowed to obtain it by criminal means, let alone then make it public.

No-one is above the law, and MPs should be expected to play by the rules too. The kerfuffle being kicked up by the Tories is, in my opinion anyway, designed purely to stick one on Labour, when infact party politics has little to do with the core issue...

BTW, I find the comparison between Brown and Mugabe pretty poor form - I know it's a joke, but comparing any civilised human being to Mugabe is a low blow 👎

 

[Famine]

I don't like where Cameron and the Tories are going with this one little bit - they are trying to make as much political capital out of this as possible... blaming the Home Secretary, blaming Gordon Brown, accusing the police of being heavy-handed etc., releasing video footage of the search specifically timed to maximise publicity (just in time for the 6 o'clock news last night), whilst neglecting to mention the small fact that their man, Damien Green, is handling information that is classified and that he is colluding with somebody somewhere who is breaking the law...

If there is a leak/mole, and someone is suspected of breaking the law (and others are suspected of being involved and/or benefiting from such behaviour), then why shouldn't the police be allowed to investigate it?

The Tories are making this a party political issue when they shouldn't be... In this case, the nature of the information that Green felt compelled to make a matter of public interest is largely irrelevant - although some of it clearly is intended to embarrass Labour. But it is the means/process by which he obtained the information that is the issue. MPs may very well have the right to hold sensitive information, but they shouldn't be allowed to obtain it by criminal means, let alone then make it public.

They do make a good point here, however. Gordon Brown, when an opposition MP, built his political career on exposing embarrassing information about the Home Office, with little regard for national security.

The four bits of data quoted by many press agencies as being released by Green have no national security implications. The fact that the Home Office has employed and allowed to be employed at least 5,001 illegal immigrants is information that ought to be in public domain - especially as the Home Office seeks to erode all of our rights and freedoms in the name of tackling illegal immigration (while incentivising it).


As an addendum, I have a Met. contact who says the whole thing stinks and that the anti-terror branch would never move against an MP in this manner without direct involvement from the Home Secretary herself (who denies all knowledge, along with Golden Brown).

No-one is above the law, and MPs should be expected to play by the rules too. The kerfuffle being kicked up by the Tories is, in my opinion anyway, designed purely to stick one on Labour, when infact party politics has little to do with the core issue...

Does it not? What's apparent is that an MP (who happens to be a Tory, but I agree that this is incidental) releases non-secure information regarding what amounts to criminal acts (employing illegal immigrants) by the government and is subsequently arrested and detained on archaic charges (had it been a Labour MP, I'd wager he'd have be sacked rather than arrested), while his parliamentary privilege to hold secure data (his phone and PC - everything on them is now in police custody) is ignored.

BTW, I find the comparison between Brown and Mugabe pretty poor form - I know it's a joke, but comparing any civilised human being to Mugabe is a low blow 👎

All that separates them is fanatical, delusional racism - which I'll admit is a pretty big "all". But Brown does support Affirmative Action...