Emma Henry reports for The Daily Telegraph:
The Conservatives tonight demanded a formal inquiry into a top policeman’s claims about “damaging” anti-terrorism leaks.
Britain’s most senior counter-terror police chief revealed his concerns about a series of leaks and said they could have placed lives at risk.
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, responded by asking Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell to launch a formal inquiry into stories which emerged concerning a counter-terrorism operation in Birmingham on Jan 31.
The move came after Tony Blair rejected demands for an inquiry into the claims by Metropolitan Police’s Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke.
In a speech last night, he slammed the “small number…of misguided individuals who betray confidences.”
He did not name names but said people providing off-the-record briefings should be “thoroughly ashamed”.
Clarke said: “What I am talking about is the deliberate leaking of highly sensitive operational intelligence, often classified, and the unauthorised release of which can be a criminal offence. The people who do this either do not know or do not care what damage they do. If they do know, then they are beneath contempt. If they do not know, then let me tell them: they compromise investigations, they reveal sources of life-saving intelligence, in the worst cases they put lives at risk.”
Tory leader David Cameron asked Blair to guarantee him that the leaks had not come from the government. Blair’s answer: no, they had not come from ministers or special advisers, “as far as I am aware,” which is, of course political code speak for either “could very well be, I ain’t taking no risks,” or “of course they did but saying so would be disastrous.”
Anyway, back to the exchange between Blair and Cameron: Cameron then asked Blair how Blair could ‘know’ or ‘suspect’ this, if he didn’t have a leak inquiry. Good question of course. Blair’s answer: “…”
Blair is handling this quite badly, it has to be said. He should know that the right answer to difficult questions is: “I can’t recall” or “I don’t remember” no matter the context, not “not as far as I am aware.”
Hopefully the Tories will continue to demand answers, one should not forget that New Labor is as corrupt as they come.
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