Saturday 29 November 2008

Hmmm.

As I see it, the story goes like this. The arrest of Damien Green is fine because he possibly broke the law. You don't want MPs above the law now do you? Whatever Gordon Brown, Robin Cook, Tony Blair and others did in the 90s, or indeed, whatever Gordon Brown did last weekend, with the PBR, is completely irrelevant.

In short, leaks to or by Labour are part of the democratic process. Leaks by or to the Tories need the full force of the law brought down upon them.


Some sections of the left are not covering themselves with glory over this - it is interesting that the defenders of Green have been people like Tony Benn: ie the looney left. The modern, reasonable left thinks that arresting Conservatives for something Labour does all the time is perfectly alright.

3 comments:

Old BE said...

It is not whether he should or should not be investigated, it is whether a "dawn raid" was appropriate in the circumstances. Was an interview at a police station necessary? Could this not have been done in a more civilised way?

Baht At said...

I think the actual allegation is that rather than passively waiting for leaks to happen Mr Green went round unscrewing pipes.

If that's the case then we should wind the clock back a few years and give the bugger the traditional traitors death.

Bill Haydon said...

Well we know that Labour have leaked obsessively while in office, and I find it very hard to believe that Brown and Cook just happened upon all those leaks in the 80s and 90s...I'm just surprised that after all this time that the offence is suddenly taken so seriously that an MP is nicked, his home and offices searched, and his duty to his constituents forcibly prevented, while their confidential letters to him are (presumably) at the mercy of the police.
Is any of this necessary, at all? Other than as a means of intimidation?