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| Met rejects Martin 'trick' claim | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The Metropolitan Police has "strongly refuted" a suggestion that a senior officer tricked a Commons official over the search of a Tory MP's office. | |
| The Met was responding to evidence by ex-Commons speaker Michael Martin given to MPs investigating events around the search of MP Damian Green's office. | |
| Lord Martin said another official blamed police tactics for the Serjeant at Arms not alerting her superiors. | |
| Mr Green was arrested in 2008 as part of a leaks inquiry but was not charged. | |
| The police action was later ruled to have been "not proportionate". | |
| 'Bamboozled' | |
| The events put a huge amount of pressure on the Speaker at the time as MPs were furious police officers had been allowed into the Commons to conduct a search without a warrant. | The events put a huge amount of pressure on the Speaker at the time as MPs were furious police officers had been allowed into the Commons to conduct a search without a warrant. |
| I felt that I could not interfere with an anti-terrorism squad Michael MartinFormer Commons Speaker | I felt that I could not interfere with an anti-terrorism squad Michael MartinFormer Commons Speaker |
| Lord Martin told the committee on policing and Parliament he had been "let down" by Serjeant at Arms Jill Pay who failed to require a warrant for the search. | |
| But he said when he asked her to explain her conduct, her boss Malcolm Jack, the Commons Clerk and chief executive, had stepped in and suggested she had been influenced by the police. | |
| Lord Martin said: "The Clerk of the House intervened to say that Chief Superintendent Bateman had bamboozled the Serjeant and tricked her into keeping the matter from her immediate superiors." | |
| A spokesman for the Met said it was "surprised" by the suggestion. | |
| He said: "At no point did Chief Superintendent Bateman, or any officer from the MPS, attempt to 'bamboozle' or 'trick' anyone in this matter." | |
| "There is a clear audit trail, including a letter and signed search consent form, which supports this and which will be presented to the committee at the appropriate time." | |
| Lord Martin told the cross-party committee, chaired by former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell, he found it "frightening" when he was told anti-terror police were investigating an MP. | |
| He said he had initially assumed it was something to do with Northern Ireland or Islamic extremism. | |
| Lord Martin said the Serjeant at Arms had told him counter-terrorism officers were investigating an unnamed MP and could wish shortly to arrest them. | |
| He said: "I was concerned a member was being investigated by anti-terrorism police. | |
| "In my mind I had an idea of Islamic or Irish terrorism. I had no idea at the time of the very different type of offence of which Mr Green was being accused." | "In my mind I had an idea of Islamic or Irish terrorism. I had no idea at the time of the very different type of offence of which Mr Green was being accused." |
| He said "it was frightening to hear about a terrorism group" - although he admitted he had known the alleged offence was of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office. | |
| 'Serious failings' | |
| But he said he had been warned two years earlier, by a High Court judge seeking to lift the Wilson Doctrine - which stops MPs' being bugged - "members of Parliament can get into difficulties and can be involved in illegal organisations". | |
| He said the judge was so insistent the doctrine should end - something Lord Martin was opposed to - he had to get the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott involved to "get this man off my back". | He said the judge was so insistent the doctrine should end - something Lord Martin was opposed to - he had to get the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott involved to "get this man off my back". |
| He added later: "I was dealing with an anti-terrorism squad. I didn't know all the facts. I felt that I could not interfere with an anti-terrorism squad." | He added later: "I was dealing with an anti-terrorism squad. I didn't know all the facts. I felt that I could not interfere with an anti-terrorism squad." |
| Mr Green was arrested last November and held for nine hours | Mr Green was arrested last November and held for nine hours |
| He said he was in Glasgow at the time of the search and had assumed a warrant had been granted and was "shocked" to hear later there had not been one. | He said he was in Glasgow at the time of the search and had assumed a warrant had been granted and was "shocked" to hear later there had not been one. |
| He admitted there had been "serious failings in communications and management" in the way it was handled and appeared to blame the Serjeant at Arms. | |
| "The need for a search warrant was basic. It never occurred to me that the Serjeant would give consent to a police search of a member's office in a police investigation without a warrant," he said. | "The need for a search warrant was basic. It never occurred to me that the Serjeant would give consent to a police search of a member's office in a police investigation without a warrant," he said. |
| Lord Martin also said she had known about the police investigation for a week before Mr Green's office and he had asked her later why she had not told him. | Lord Martin also said she had known about the police investigation for a week before Mr Green's office and he had asked her later why she had not told him. |
| He said this was when the Clerk of the Commons had defended Ms Pay and blamed Chief Superintendent Bateman. | |
| Sir Menzies told him that was an "allegation of the utmost seriousness" but Lord Martin maintained that was what had been put to him, although he had personally always found the officer "professional and courteous". | Sir Menzies told him that was an "allegation of the utmost seriousness" but Lord Martin maintained that was what had been put to him, although he had personally always found the officer "professional and courteous". |
| The furore over the police search of Mr Green's office led to a huge political row and put a lot of pressure on the then Speaker - who later resigned over his handling of a separate issue, MPs' expenses. | The furore over the police search of Mr Green's office led to a huge political row and put a lot of pressure on the then Speaker - who later resigned over his handling of a separate issue, MPs' expenses. |
| Mr Green was never charged but was held for nine hours by counter-terrorism police as part of an investigation into leaks from the Home Office. | Mr Green was never charged but was held for nine hours by counter-terrorism police as part of an investigation into leaks from the Home Office. |
| An official inquiry into events later ruled the police action had not been "proportionate" and the leaks had never threatened national security. | An official inquiry into events later ruled the police action had not been "proportionate" and the leaks had never threatened national security. |
| Christopher Galley, the civil servant arrested for leaking documents to Mr Green, was also not charged but was later sacked for gross professional misconduct. | Christopher Galley, the civil servant arrested for leaking documents to Mr Green, was also not charged but was later sacked for gross professional misconduct. |