Mr Green, who is the shadow immigration minister, was arrested at his home in Kent by counter-terrorism police officers.
The arrest follows a series of leaks to the Conservatives about Government policy, including a sensitive memorandum from the Home Office's most senior official on crime figures earlier this month. David Cameron, the Conservative leader, is said to be "extremely angry" about the arrest and has privately accused the Government of "Stalinesque" behaviour.
Mr Green is understood to have been arrested at lunchtime today and is still in custody. He has not been charged. Green has been arrested after obtaining leaked Whitehall documents. Police searched his family home and his office in the House of Commons. He was arrested for "aiding and abetting misconduct in public office".
It is claimed that nine counter-terrorism officers were involved in the arrest.
Mr Cameron has pledged his full support for the shadow immigration minister. In a statement he said: "Disclosure of this information was manifestly in the public interest. Mr Green denies any wrongdoing and stands by his action."
In February this year, Mr Green criticised the Government over leaked documents at the Home Office. He said: "Ministers like to talk tough about cracking down on employers but it is clear that the system is failing in our most sensitive buildings. What makes this even worse is that ministers' first instinct was to cover it up."
An alleged "whistleblower", thought to be a male Home Office official was arrested 10 days ago.
It is understood that the inquiry is focusing on four Home Office documents allegedly obtained by the Conservatives. Last November, documents from the private office of Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, were leaked to the opposition. They showed that ministers had known for four months that thousands of illegal immigrants had been cleared to work as security guards but had not told Parliament.
Other documents included information about an illegal immigrant working at House of Commons and a list of Labour MPs preparing to vote against the Government's anti-terrorism measures.
Tory sources angrily pointed out that the police move came after Parliament rose for a five-day holiday. Had the Commons been sitting, they said, MPs could have immediately raised the matter with the Speaker.
The police search of Mr Green's office had to be authorised by the Serjeant at Arms, who answers to the Speaker. Mr Green's constituency office was also searched.
#2
I'm hoping it was just Ian Blair's last vengeful swipe at the Tories who had been amongst the most outspoken in pointing out his gross incompetence over the years. The self same Ian Blair who complained that his position had been undermined by politics and yet who had been the most politicising Met chief, AFAIK, in memory. Seems Blair would have made a great Beria to Brown's Stalin. Hey, maybe he'll come back from the political dead, like Mandelson, to resume his arrests
#3
Isn't the British PM an elected dictator? That is to say the British constitution is not one of limited delegated powers from a sovereign people with checks and balances from independently accountable branches of government.
President Hugo Chavez is asking the military and his supporters to prepare for a showdown with his newly elected political opponents, telling his backers that they must be "prepared to die for the revolution."
Chavez says opposition leaders who captured five gubernatorial posts and the Caracas mayor's office in elections last Sunday "want a confrontation" and are falling back on "the scenario of 2002," when he was deposed by a brief coup.
Speaking to red-clad supporters Friday, he said events including the alleged burning of a state-owned health clinic this week were meant to weaken his government. Chavez called on Venezuela's military to "prepare to defend the revolution" and said "we won't show them mercy."
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2008 09:15 ||
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#1
I don't understand why Hugo makes such big deal out of people plotting coups. He did time in the slammer for doing it himself. In Venezuela, it's just part of the process.
#4
including the alleged burning of a state-owned health clinic
Gotta be careful when Reichstags state-owned health clinics start burning.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/29/2008 19:30 Comments ||
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#5
this will likely get ugly, quick. Hoogo has promised away much of the oil proceeds as proof of comradeship to his allies (Cuba, Bolivia, Kennedy Jr.), which was workable at best with $120+/bbl oil, especially since his oil is sludgey crap.
Now that the income stream is dropping like a brick, he's phucked in domestic economy, and can't deliver his foreign promises. Time for the bunker looms, hope he doesn't kill too many good Venezuelans before he gets the dirt nap
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2008 19:40 Comments ||
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#6
What's up? Is the CIA trying to kill him? Again?
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil on Saturday kicked off a row when he said "such small incidents happen" with reference to terror attacks in Mumbai.
"Such small incidents happen..", was what Patil, who also holds the Home portfolio, told reporters, little realising his faux pas.
What led to the controversy are his remarks " bade shahron mein aise ek adh hadse hote rahte hain. Woh 5,000 logon ko marne aye the lekin humne kitna kum nuksan hone diya . (Such small incidents happen in big cities. They (terrorists) came to kill 5,000 people but we ensured minimal damage)".
Patil was not available for comment but sources close to him said the senior NCP leader did not mean to downplay the terror attack and that the remarks were being quoted "out of context".
Posted by: john frum ||
11/29/2008 14:34 ||
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the remarks were being quoted "out of context"
So he's just like O'Bambi....?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/29/2008 14:41 Comments ||
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#2
No different than the coastie literati who've been caught telling their fellow Americans to 'get over' 9/11.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has finally found a mission she can sink her teeth into. This week Israel's would-be prime minister declared that she will leave no stone unturned in her quest to commute the sentences of two Israeli drug dealers just condemned to death by a court in Thailand.
Yigal Mahluf and Vladimir Agronik were arrested in Bangkok last December while in possession of some 23,000 Ecstasy pills. Livni has promised that she will take their case all the way to the King of Thailand if she needs to. That's instead of thanking Tais for doing Israel a favor
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
