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Steve_Way

Listed below are comments made by Steve_Way between Wednesday, 29th October 2008 and Thursday, 4th December 2008.

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Serious questions to answer 11:25am on 04 Dec 2008 If the Sergeant at Arms did not know that access could be refused without a warrant I would suggest she watches a bit more TV (the Bill, various plots in Eastenders, Police Camera Action and Lord knows how many other programmes) as most teenagers would have known that....

I think the approach of waiting until the investigation is over is correct. Until that time an interim set of rules to be followed should be agreed by Parliament.

Perhaps along the lines that if the police wish to serach an office and computer equipment they should notify the speaker who should secure the area, equipment and any online accounts. They should then be forced to produce their rationale before a Law Lord, who if agreeing they have a valid reason to conduct a search should authorise their access. A press blackout should be maintained unless the Law Lord grants access this prevents the system being used for political gain.

This would ensure that MP's are not above the law and that the Police do not have to worry that equipment can be tampered with prior to them gaining access.
In retreat 12:01pm on 02 Dec 2008 Of course the inquiry could find no fault. Too many assumptions here, then again that sums up the entire coverage to date..
Meet the Home Office mole 7:55pm on 01 Dec 2008 OK, so now according to some posters we must believe innocence because the man's lawer said so.......

By that token most who appear in our courts are innocent......

Get real people, he's not going to say he received inducement, payment or promise from Green is he? Green has yet to state he did nothing illegal, he used the subjective term wrong. I imagine he has lawers currently looking to find out if he can state the he acted legally at all times, and that the final analysis will be borderline.

One last point we only know about the information Green published we do not know all information that was passed, nor do we know what other information this man had access to. If you cannot keep to the OSA don't sign it.
Oft-asked question 12:06pm on 01 Dec 2008 Obviously now the Tories feel leaks should not be investigated, even if by definition it becomes espionage if the leak was encouraged or incentivized in any way.

In that case can we expect apologies for:

1. Clive Ponting: As national security is not an issue when a war is already concluded. And surely Tam Dyall was just holding the government of the day to account? He had to clear his name in court, and Tam Dyall did not seek the disclosure yet was demnonised by ministers. Also Tory Ministers had lied to the public about the Belgrano which seems to be another strand of the Tory defence.

2. Sarah Tisdall: Although the leak was defined by the Judge as not relating to national security, "those involved may leak national security information in the future". Surely some compensation is due for her 4 months in jail? Using the approach of the Tory Government of the time of Sarah’s case both Green and the Civil Servant in question "may leak national security information in the future".

Oh I see the difference MP's should not be expected to keep to the laws that us mere mortals are subject to. That would have been convenient for Aitkin wouldn't it.

Let's get to the end of the investigation before we decide who's behaved inappropriately. Unless of course the Tories want to guarantee that they will not pursue anyone one when they are in power even if they deliberately attempt to encourage leaks and plant employees in the civil service.
The sanctity of the Commons 6:19pm on 30 Nov 2008 The consensus on this blog seems to be that the police should not have a right to have acted against an MP in this way. William Hague says that MP’s need to be confident they can go about their business unimpeded, I agree as long as there business does not break any laws. If it does it’s not politics but crime.

No one seems to give a realistic alternative to the police action. When MP's judge themselves we see financial irregularities that would have had any normal employee sacked lead to a 1 day suspension from the commons.

If he is charged there is going to be a lot of egg on faces….
The sanctity of the Commons 09:10am on 29 Nov 2008 Many bloggers on this site use tenuous links to support their political agenda's but I wish those who feel MP's are above the law would take a moment to consider that if that were the case MP's can act at will and break any laws they wish.

What about Sinn Fein MP's in the 1980's. They actively supported Terroism and the Tories would not even allow their real voices to be heard in TV reports. I supported that policy. However if Special Branch had considered that they had illegal information in their Westminster Offices (they took offices but did not sit) they should, and would have arrested them.

Finally this rubbish about Anti Terroist Police is getting tiresome. The officers were from the Anti Terroist Command. It includes all special branch officers the same officers who would be expected to investigate breaches of the Official Secrets Act.

If anyone has stepped over the line here it is the Police and the proper response from Goverment now is to state that the evidence used to support the decision to make an arrest will be examined by a cross party group of peers augmented by at least two law lords ON COMPLETION of the investigation. If found insufficient to have been used the MPS can be made to discipline the decision maker.

Is it now Tory policy that when they regain power all their MP's will be exempt from the rule of law. After all the Tory head of the Police Authority in London takes children illegally in his two seater car, the Tory leader ignores the Highway Code and let's not forget the ex-cabinet ministers with first hand experience of our jails.

It would make goverment easier for them in two years wouldn't it if laws applied only to us mere mortals. The law is for all of us, or none of us.
The sanctity of the Commons 11:41pm on 28 Nov 2008 Interesting Green states he "emphatically did nothing wrong" he could have stated that he "emphatically did nothing illegal" why didn't he.

Wrong is subjective, illegal is far more clear cut.
The sanctity of the Commons 10:27pm on 28 Nov 2008 Ah now I get it. According to the Tory blogging mafia MP's get to make laws but are immune from them (if Tory of course all labour MP's should be hanged after a quick flogging of course).

The M.P.S. have made clear who they informed, I wouldn't trust a goverment statement but let's try and work on the basis that the police wouldn't directly lie on this scale and did not inform ministers.

MP's get immunity when on the floor of the house to protect free speach, and this is right although it has been abused. They cannot expect to have immunity from the police.

Particularly as they haven't exactly been bastions of virtue (irrespective of party).

If there is a case to answer he should answer it. IF there is no charge the file should be passed to an independant body to judge whether the arrest was warrented.

Cameron and co should let the process take it's course and then have the high ground afterwards if, as they state, there has been no suspect activity.
Green's arrest draws parallels 4:24pm on 28 Nov 2008 Accepting a document that is leaked through conscience is part and parcel of the political scene and I would suggest morally acceptable. If Green accepted documents from a whistle blower, at the whistle blowers behest, then there is no problem. The whistle blower would also have a degree of legal protection.

Trying to instigate or encourage a leak is a completely different affair. If done by a foreign national it is espionage, done by a politician it is encouraging an employee to break not only the terms and conditions of their employment, but also potentially the Official Secrets Act.

If Green tried to coerce a leak, encouraged an individual to leak a document, or worse to find a document they did not usually have access to, then that is neither morally acceptable or legal. If you sign the OSA you accept the limitations of it. If you cannot work to these rules don’t sign it or accept the job.

Conscience I can accept, political pressure or worse greed I cannot.

Before we cry Police state, if they were investigating the leak (as an independent agency) and suspected the latter explanation, they were obliged to follow this up. If there was undue pressure on them from Government we would of heard this by now as anyone who remembers the police led leaks of previous high profile investigations will know.

If, and for the sake of politics in this country I hope this is true, Green merely reacted to information offered, then I wish him well and long may it continue. If he tried to coerce, or directly asked for a leak then I hope he is charged and resigns, as I would object to paying his wages..
The final cost of recession 3:55pm on 29 Oct 2008 Shock horror the Tory Blog Mafia are not complaining. Please can we get back to examining Cameron and Osborne you Soooooooooo biased against Labour....

Excuse the sarcasm but we only get to blog on topic if it's broadly critical of Government.

GB's fiscal rules are clearly dead. The question is were they wrong altogether or right for 10 years but need replacing now.

The government should be getting hammered but the Tories have been incapacitated by the Osborne row and seem intent on playing only to the Westminster crowd.

Policy, Policy, Policy. Show us there is an alternative, make it bold and tell it calmly. Fulfil the promise to remove punch and judy the subject is too important.

A few pence of relief to tiny businesses will not help. Massive incentives to SME's will. For example add a 5% tax on all payments to companies employing less than 1000 that are delayed by more than 60 days. Big companies frequently rape smaller ones through late payments particularly in hard times. Try to use the current laws to charge interest and they threaten to take their business elsewhere. Make companies declare late payments then smaller profitable business won't go under for want cash flow. Pass the money directly to the smaller business up to the level of their bank charges. Sounds harsh but it's the smaller businesses that cannot get lines of credit easily at the moment. SME's are the backbone of our economy, protect them. Many who run them could be better off by pulling the plug. Support them and they support UK PLC.

Propose compulsory purchase of repossessions at a rate that is punitive if a lender pulls the plug too early. Use the home for social housing renting to the dispossessed owner if appropriate and allowing a buy back (or part buy back) at a later point. Banks would be forced to accept a huge loss or help the country by trying to help those they probably should not have lent to originally.

Twopolicies in 5 minutes, yes we would need to borrow to fund one of them but they would help stimulate the economy and offer people a bit of hope.

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