Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today made a statement to the House of Commons about the arrest of Damian Green MP and the police search of his parliamentary offices, which took place without a warrant with the apparent agreement of the Speaker, Michael Martin. 

Jacqui Smith insisted again that she had no knowledge of the arrest before it took place, telling MPs: “I have made clear that neither I nor any other Government minister knew until after the arrest of the Honourable Member that he or any other Honourable Member was the subject of a police investigation.

“Even if I had been informed, I believe it would have been wholly inappropriate for me to seek to intervene in the operational decisions being taken by the police.

“I don’t do that and I should not do that.”

As well as outbursts from Conservative and Lib Dem MPs, normally loyal former Home Secretary John Reid showed the irritation of many MPs on the Labour benches when he said: “I have to say I’m surprised, to say the least, that she was not informed that her opposite number effectively was about to be arrested. I cannot think that if I had been told that this had been done after the event that I would have remained as placid as she has in the circumstances. So, notwithstanding the fact that she has said her judgment is that even if she had been informed she would not have changed, I do not think we should take that as a ruling that someone in her position should never be informed. For my part, I would have wanted to be informed and to have expressed a view on it.”

The current Home Secretary countered: “On the subject of placidity, sometimes I think it behoves home secretaries to deal calmly with issues such as this one.”

There is also rising anger Read more