Monday, February 04, 2008

More Questions for Sir Ian Blair

According to THIS BBC report tonight, a Thames Valley Police Officer is alleging that he was put under significant pressure by the Met to bug Sadiq Khan and the prisoner he was visiting.

Ex-Thames Valley Police officer, Mark Kearney, who faces charges over leaking stories to a newspaper, said he had never felt the bugging was "justified". Shadow home secretary David Davis said it was an "extraordinary allegation". And it has emerged that officials in the Home Office and Ministry of Justice were told in December of the incident. But BBC political editor Nick Robinson said ministers in charge had not been aware until the Sunday Times reports emerged this weekend.
So it seems that the Ministry of Justice is as unfit for purpose as the Home Office. It simply beggars belief that a senior civil servant (surely this would have gone at least to Assistant Secretary level, if not higher) did not tell a Minister.
I suspect Sir Ian Blair will now come under fire again.
UPDATE: Ben Brogan tells Shahid Malik to mind his own business.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

There should be indignation if any suspected terrorist in captivity is NOT bugged.
What a pathetic bunch of suicidal PC idiots we have become.

Anonymous said...

Ian Blair doesnt wipe his arse without checking with the Home Office.....

Anonymous said...

All terror suspects should be bugged MPs should grow up. I hope MI5 bug more terrorists. Why do the tories compain about this.

Johnny Norfolk said...

No one could convince me why MPs shouls not be bugged. MPs think they are be above the law.

They all need bringing dowm to earth with a bump. There is no respect for them in the country at all.

Anonymous said...

Well, the reports were slanted that Sadiq Khan MP WAS bugged, not so much the terror suspect. My first thought was 'so what'- if a terror suspect was involved. That view remains. The fact is that it opens up MORE questions: i) whether MORE MP's have had the 'eye' of the security services on em (i suspect LibDem MP's for anymore hilarity inducing moments in GCHQ); ii) was it just Muslim MP's being 'checked' ( if that's the case it just goes to show that all the talk about an 'inclusive society is bo**ocks- the suspicion that they are not 'one of us'.); iii) the security services musn't have a lot to do. Come on, MP's are the most boring t*ssers on the planet. I feel sorry for the poor sod listening in on those individuals.

Anonymous said...

And now we have David Davis ramping up the rhetoric:
This is a very serious issue. It's a breach of a prime ministerial undertaking to Parliament, so it makes the prime minister a liar, basically.

Am I alone in feeling this is, at least, a tactical mistake, at worst, stitching-up David Cameron?

After all, there is small chance that the "bugging" issue will not be raised at PMQs tomorrow. Brown has an easy four to long leg, asking whether Cameron stands by his Deputy. And where would that fit under Standing Orders?

Chris Paul said...

Au contraire Iain, Cameron is looking, dithery, weak and late on this. There'll hopefully be something compulsory for all MPs before this Cam nonsense dribbles into action. He's already backed off by a whole quarter.