Home Office leaks investigation ‘inevitable’

An investigation into Tory MP Damian Green was “inevitable” but based on exaggerated information, a report by the Home Affairs Committee suggests.
Mr Green, a Conservative Party frontbencher, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) last November over politically sensitive leaks from the Home Office. He will not face charges because of “insufficient evidence”, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, QC, said that once a pattern of leaks had been established it was “inevitable” that a police investigation would follow.
Mr Starmer described the police investigation as “thorough” and without it he would not have been able to reach a conclusion on the particular facts of the case.
Chief constable of British Transport Police (BTP), Ian Johnston, conducted a review of police procedures during the inquiry and found all action to be appropriate, but questioned whether the arrest of Mr Green was “proportionate”.
Assistant Commissioner specialist operations John Yates said: “We recognise that this was always going to be a sensitive investigation and we understand the extensive debate that it has generated.
“However, our priority has always been to conduct a thorough investigation and as with all operations, it was our duty to secure any available evidence.
“An independent review by Chief Constable Ian Johnston concluded that both arrests and the searches carried out as part of the inquiry were lawful.
“Mr Johnston did, however, question whether the manner of the MP’s arrest was proportionate.
“In the light of today’s announcement by the CPS we are reviewing Mr Johnston’s report with our lawyers to establish what we can make public as soon as possible.”
The Home Affairs Committee released a review of the Damian Green leaks inquiry, entitled Policing Process of Home Office Leaks Inquiry, last week.
The committee raised concerns over the absence of a warrant to search Mr Green’s Parliamentary office. The report concludes: “It is very regrettable that there should have been any misunderstanding over the issue of consent to search Parliamentary premises, but in seeking consent before applying for a warrant, the police were following the procedure set down in statute.”
As a result of this discrepancy, the Speaker ruled that: “In future a warrant will always be required for a search of a Member’s office or access to a Member’s Parliamentary papers, including his electronic records and any such warrant will be referred to me for my personal decision.”
Key senior figures were informed of the intended search operation to be conducted but none were informed that officers intended to arrest Mr Green because of “political sensitivity”.
The Home Affairs Committee recommended “the adoption by the police of a protocol setting out the exceptional circumstances in which a politician would be informed of any police operation while it was underway”.
The committee was also concerned about the number of high-ranking officers sharing information on the inquiry. “This is another reason why it would be sensible not to keep politicians informed during police operations,” it concluded. A gold group of chief officers, chaired by Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, was in charge of the main investigation which comprised 15 officers and staff, assisted occasionally by specialist units.
Boris Johnson, mayor of London and chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), was the first to be alerted of the investigation outside of the police, the CPS and the Houses of Parliament authorities. He issued a statement shortly after.
The MPA and Greater London Authorities (GLA) investigated Mr Johnson’s actions and concluded that he didn’t breach their code of conduct, “but some of his actions were unwise, and his motives could have been misinterpreted”.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she is “minded to instigate a wide-ranging review into the conduct of the leak inquiry”. The committee has recommended that this covers the