Police arrest critic of the Home Secretary

[Bubble99]

What's that all about, then?

Labour getting arsey about leaks?

Pot? Kettle?

Labour claim it ws nothing to do with them and the police acted alone

I find this scary, TBH.

Mugabe arrests and beats up anyone who speaks out against him.

Labour.......

So the police arrest a member of the opposition and the Home Secretary knows nothing about it.

Does this show incompetence or lies or both?

I wonder if when the Tory MP is released if he will have learned to overcome himself and embrace his love of the Great Leader (so what if Orwell was out by 24 years we are very nearly there.)

I also find this completely sinister, I don't believe for a moment that GB and JS didn't know in advance about this, I just struggle to understand what they thought it would achieve, other than to reiterate to everyone that we are living in what is approaching a police state.

GB sends letters to X factor contestants congratulating them on their warblings and meanwhile opposition MPs are rounded up. Wasn't there a government department in 1984 responsible for churning out mass produced TV and pop music to keep the proles amused whilst the ruling class got on with controlling every facet of their lives? Terrifying stuff.

I'm not in the least bit surprised though - I refused to get out of bed on 2nd May 1997 because I thought democracy would shortly come to an end and I think I may have been right.

According to R4 both Boris Jonhson and David Cameron knew beforehand so I can not for one momment believe that GB and JS didn't know!!!!

It really does get very scary if you look too closly at what's really happening....

Well you have to hand it to Labour, they start illegal wars, fuck up the economy and now we are turning into a police state. Some achievement.

GB and JS must have known and they must think we are idiots to fall for their lies.

Can't wait for i.d. cards now, after all if you have noting to hide.....

Honestly I will go to prison before I have an ID card.
And be very mindful how much data (finger printing etc) is taken from your DC's

Funny, this thread started at 15.26 - it's now 21.52 and the battalions of Mumsnet Labour supporters are still silent. Of course the bloody Government knew about this. Anyone care to defend it? Anyone?

What happened to Parliamentary privilege?

I am no fan of the Tories, but this just stinks. He was arrested under anti terrorism legislation . For what? Challenging the government's policies?

Outrageous.

Shame on you Labor government.

And it's a very dark day when one gets Tony Benn defending a Tory Shadow Minister.

Bad day for deomocracy...

is outrageous
wish lab were not so control freaky

I think this has Peter Mandleson's maliciousness written all over it

Its is just not plausible to tink that a senior Tory shadow minister could be arrested, prmises searched etc, detained for 9 hours and JS knew nothing about it

Even if she had nothing to do with it she would have been forwarned

Me thinks they are trying to scare Mr Green

It is sinister

This thread would have been overflowing with posts if a Tory government had done this.

true, bubble. I think that's because there is no defence. What can anyone say in support of it? What is there to say?

I was always a loyal labour voter.

not any more though. The way I feel at the moment, labour will never get my vote again.

I don't think I can bring myself to vote tory but I am disgusted with this government! I mean the tories were tories! You got pretty much what you'd expect from a conservative government! but I feel very let down by this labour government - and rather scared, actually.

I never ever thought I would EVER say this, but I hope they don't get in next time.

Sinister just doesn't cover it, it smacks of Big Brother and a total police state. I've never voted labour and my god, I've been proved right. Crackfox's post said it all perfectly. The evil bastards....

They've also shot themselves in the foot.

Any 'bounce' they might have got from their handling of the economy (the economy that they messed up in the first place? ) has been cancelled out by this, IMVHO.

Radio 4 programme earlier, someone was saying that this is a clear threat to anyone else who may be thinking of leaking anything that damages the govt.

I feel really angry about this.

Still angry.

What happens now? JS and GB are lying when they say they knew nothing about this. Where does it end? Politicians used to resign over this sort of thing.

I'm sure they thought this would be a 'good time to bury bad news' with the situation in Mumbai.

I used to vote Labour, but never again. They have no respect for parliament and democracy. If this had been a Tory govt. then this would have been a massive news story. Labour seem to get away with a lot because they are "left wing". They are as left wing as Maggie Thatcher.

Anyone got a link to anything about this please?

On Radio 4 they were reading out what the papers say - apparently the Guardian was saying talk of a police state is over egging it.

Is this the same Guardian that spent the 80s and early 90s accusing that govt of being a police state among other things?

Everything a terrorist does is illegal anyway. The point of anti-terrorist laws is that if you are pretty sure someone is about to set off a bomb you may need to skip getting search warrents etc to stop him in time. Even a terrorist should be arrested in the usual way if there is time. They are supposed to be last resort methods.

So ANY other use of these laws is wrong. Using them to arrest a minister for something routine is open abuse of these powers. What IS his crime anyway? finding out what the government plan to do? Isn't he supposed to be told that anyway?

Lying and saying they didn't order it just makes it worse since it's an admission that they think it's wrong.

As for the whole labour/tory argument I see little difference. If they get in next they won't undo what labour did. They will find it too useful.

Absolutely agree this is disgraceful and shows that the govt. and cops think they can get away with police state behaviour. NO ONE has marched into parliament to search MPs or arrest them for doing their jobs since Charles I, FFS, when this country was an absolute monarchy.

But let's not forget the Tories have done this kind of thing too - poor Sarah Tisdall went to prison for leaking info as a civil servant and Clive Ponting only escaped chokey by the skin of his teeth. It was dreadfully wrong then and it is dreadfully wrong now.

What the Thatcher government didn't have was quite such an apparatus to bring in a police state (although they came pretty close as anyone who lived in mining areas during the strike can testify).

Thatch didn't have a DNA register, didn't have 3,000 new offences, didn't have the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, didn't have the sort of anti-terror legislation there is now.

She didn't reverse the basis of government keeping personal details - used to be they couldn't share info between depts, now they are obliged to share. Used to be the case personal info could only be used for the purpose for which it was given, now that's been turned on it's head as far as the government is concerned.

My godmother's late husband was an eminent historian. He warned me we'd have fascism back in this country within three decades of the 90s. Certainly any less "benign" government would have all the apparatus in place ready to get cracking the minute they marched into power.

Oh, and it's disgraceful that the police think they can drive a coach and horses through the law, interfering in communications between an MP and his constituents. Correspondence with an MP is protected by parliamentary privilege, they have NO right at all to rifle through it.

Interesting that this happened on Sir Ian Blair's last day of work. Seems like he was sticking two fingers up at the Torys.

Hectate I feel exactly like you do about "Labour" - I cannot imagine a scenario whn I could vote for them again in the foreseeable future

Edam - interesting post

The Labour Party have a whole history of binging in Draconian powers - the most Draconian powers against the Irish were all bought in by Labour Governments - the Tories just kept them in place when it suited them

Crack - I wonder if it was Ian Blair's parting shot - vengance for Boris sacking him? We'll never know what went on behind the scenes will we?