Friday, 28th November 2008

UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP has raised further fears of Britain's slide towards a police state over the arrest of Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green.

In an action that looks more appropriate to the bad old days of the Soviet Union than a modern liberal democracy, the Metropolitan Police used counter-terrorism officers to raid Mr Green's homes and offices and to hold him for nine hours on suspicion of "conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office" and "aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office".

Their excuse was a call from the Home Office to investigate the leaking of sensitive information revealing that the government knew about the employment of illegal immigrants and that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith had warned the Prime Minister of a possible rise in crime during a recession.

A junior official at the Home Office was suspended from duty and arrested on 19 November but was subsequently released on bail without charge.

Nigel Farage said: "When the police start arresting politicians for doing their job then we're well down the path to a police state.

"Finding out what the government doesn't want you to know they're doing is the very job of an opposition politician."

The arrest of an MP and the raiding of his offices is unprecedented in the investigation of government leaks.

It is well known that opposition MPs often rely on the leaking of information embarrassing to the government of the day and though there have been many inquiries, the police have rarely been  involved and internal investigations have usually ended with the officials thought to have been responsible for the leaks. Even then, successful prosecutions in such cases have been very few.

The government has denied being involved in the arrest of Mr Green. However, it begins to look sinister alongside the steady increase in public surveillance over the past 10 years and Labour's apparently insatiable appetite for collecting information on citizens, together with its planned introduction of ID cards.

The police action has been justified on the basis of a little-known common law statute. But what does it say about Britain today when newspaper headlines might read "Opposition spokesman arrested"?

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