http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bugging-scandal-inside-the-commons-1041637.html
Bugging scandal inside the Commons
Anger over Damian Green's arrest escalates over suspicion of security
scandal inside Parliament
By Jane Merrick, Political Editor
Sunday, 30 November 2008
The House of Commons office of Damian Green, the Tories' immigration
spokesman, is routinely swept for electronic bugging devices, along
with other offices belonging to senior Conservatives, amid fears of
covert monitoring, The Independent on Sunday has discovered.
Anger surrounding the shadow immigration minister's arrest last week
escalated dramatically last night over suspicions of a major bugging
scandal inside the Palace of Westminster.
The IoS understands that even before his surprise arrest on Thursday
Mr Green was aware that his Commons office, phone calls and emails
could be under surveillance because of the sensitive nature of his job.
The fresh revelations rocked the Commons just days before the high
point of the parliamentary calendar, the Queen's Speech, which takes
place on Wednesday.
Tory leader David Cameron last night said the Prime Minister must
denounce the arrest of Mr Green or risk charges of hypocrisy because
he "made his career" from Whitehall leaks. Writing in the News of the
World, Mr Cameron added: "If this approach had been in place in the
1990s, then Gordon Brown would have spent most of his time under arrest."
Several offices within the Commons and Portcullis House belonging to
senior Tory MPs and officials are checked regularly by security
experts for listening devices and other surveillance equipment.
The IoS has learnt that there are "major concerns" at the highest
levels of the Tory party over suspected monitoring by the
authorities. Any such monitoring may not be illegal but would be
hugely controversial.
Last night, a Conservative MP wrote to Gordon Brown demanding an
urgent review of the Wilson doctrine, the convention that protects
MPs from phonetapping but does not cover other surveillance techniques.
It is not known whether a covert device has ever been found during
searches. But if the suspicions are proved right, it would have major
implications for the protection of parliamentary privilege.
Ben Wallace, the Conservative MP for Lancaster & Wyre, said the
Wilson doctrine, which dates back to 1966, needed to be changed to
cover all forms of surveillance, not just intercepting of calls.
He said: "It is disturbing that the authorities may have exploited
the difference between surveillance and intercept in order to pursue
Members of Parliament over the past 10 years."
Mr Green's arrest and detention for nine hours, and simultaneous
raids on his office in Portcullis House, constituency office and home
over the Whitehall leak investigation has already triggered a major
political row. David Cameron, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg,
and MPs from all parties have reacted furiously to the treatment of
the MP for Ashford.
It is understood that disquiet at the police action, in particular
the approval by the Serjeant at Arms to allow anti-terrorist police
to raid a parliamentary office, has even reached cabinet levels, but
Downing Street maintains the investigation is a police matter.
Ministers have insisted that the Prime Minister and the Home
Secretary, Jacqui Smith, did not know in advance that Mr Green was to
be arrested.
Mr Green, whose mobile phone was taken by police as part of their
investigation into leaked stories from a Home Office civil servant,
was forced to communicate through his Facebook page yesterday.
A party spokesman refused to comment on the revelations last night,
as did Mr Green.
There were reports that the civil servant accused of leaking stories
is an assistant private secretary who was temporarily attached to the
special advisers' office at the Home Office.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
World Class, Professional, Ethical, and Competent Bug Sweeps, and
Wiretap Detection using Sophisticated Laboratory Grade Test Equipment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803
Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467
127 Eastern Avenue #291 Web:
http://www.tscm.com/
Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 E-mail: mailto:jm..._at_tscm.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We perform bug sweeps like it's a full contact sport, we take no prisoners,
and we give no quarter. Our goal is to simply, and completely stop the spy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:20 CST