The Green Affair : David Kelly forgotten

Trouble is brewing for the government, quite rightly, because the police have got above themselves and arrested a member of parliament for apparently being involved in the deployment of leaked confidential information to the press. Sundry other police officers have this been either explaining why they chose to beat up working class war heroes, hound an officer for exposing something trivial to his girlfriend, or shoot someone in Guildford.

One of the things about English society these days, at least amongst the middle classes from whom the professional political class is drawn, is that no one has any manners. There is a way to do these sorts of things, which are probably essential to a democracy, without plunging everyone into some farce-version of the pentagon papers.

Green should have left a note for the Speaker, or the Serjeant at Arms, then hightailed it down to the chamber shortly afterward and slipped in a question and supplemental to a Home Office Minister, or referred to the material in a speech. Then a parliamentary sketchwriter could have referred to it, it would be in the open, and the police wouldn't have done anything. That's the proper way to do things.

Of course, opposition spokesmen should have been capable of exercising judgment as to whether a leak was an attempt to inform the public or just partisan, and, if the latter, simply refuse to do anything with the information. As I understand it, this leak fell into the former category, since it exposed the fact that a government at war on illegal immigration was employing, sponsoring, or allowing 5000 illegal immigrants to be security guards. When exposed, it turned on the leaker.

But today's watchword is 'I want to be a celebrity, get me into here'. He appears to have gone to the press with no thought to the danger he was putting his informant in. Even if he hadn't, I suppose, I guess he wasn't thinking that the unfortunate civil servant would kill himself like Churchill's war department source did in 1938. No one in politics does any more, thankfully, because there's no shame, which is a good thing. But civil servants do, sometimes. Does no one remember David Kelly?

I do find myself suspecting that the unfortunate public servant's life has become hellish when all he was trying to do (he says) was expose lies. He's 26, and young, and probably knew what he was doing, so I hope he is alright tonight. Perhaps Green couldn't suppress but didn't understand his dim memory of how Tories weren't meant to like the Pontings and Tisdalls of this world.

In any event, the arrest has provoked a storm of protest. Defending herself, the Home Secretary said it was wrong and would never be the case that she would interfere in a criminal investigation.

Funny that she wasn't saying that when she was touting an ill-thought out plan for the Home Secretary to throw various suspects in jail for seven weeks without charge earlier in the year.

But then, she doesn't have to think. In fact, it's dangerous; she is part of the British media-political class. Nor does she have to apologise, nor to pay attention to any one at all.

As I said, none of them have any manners. At least Jack Profumo died an honest man.

UPDATE: Apparently, the latest is that Green induced the leak--something which could well constitute malfeasance in public office, which is what he is charged with. Do none of these people have any sense?