Analysis: Green dispute is wholly political
Points of order, points of politics
Wednesday, 03, Dec 2008 12:00
Party political tensions are overwhelming the Commons' fundamental arguments about its role in Britain's democracy.
In parliamentary terms at least, a galaxy of stars have stood up to speak in the Commons in the past two hours. Former home secretaries John Reid and David Blunkett, ex-Tory leaders Michael Howard and Iain Duncan Smith, former Lib Dem leader Menzies Campbell. Their parliamentary status gives you some idea of what is at stake.
That's no surprise, because the arrest of shadow immigration minister Damian Green and searches of his parliamentary offices by police represent a real challenge to MPs' traditional privilege.
What is remarkable about the points of order which followed speaker Michael Martin's statement is their extremely partisan nature.
There is a key tension here. On the one hand, MPs from all sides of the House are keen to show themselves as being united against unjustified intrusions into MPs' work.
On the other, they know there are votes to be won and lost as a result of their handling of the Green affair.
Judging by the last two hours this is far from a bipartisan issue and electoral impulses have been holding sway.
This was not immediately the case as Howard's first point of order mentioned the "outrage felt on all sides of the House".
But his question about MPs being allowed to "question the conduct of government ministers" implied a criticism, setting the party political ball rolling.
Reid jumped the establishment's defence by asking whether the "independent operations of the police" and "political neutrality of the civil service" would be under discussion by the committee.
And former Europe minister Denis MacShane went further, warning MPs that "the systematic breach of confidence in a minister's office destroys confidence in Her Majesty's government."
It took Iain Duncan Smith, Howard's predecessor as Tory leader, to bring the party political element to the fore. He expressed a concern that the government would use its position of power in drafting the motion to limit the scope for debate.
"What causes great concern to many of us is the executive themselves being in control of this motion are also party to the whole issue," he warned.
That, it seemed, was that, but the issue returned again when David Cameron used his response to the Queen's Speech prolong the debate.
The leader of the opposition received a roasting from John Reid as a result. Tony Blair's former troubleshooter accused Cameron of announcing a principle in advance of becoming prime minister that "he will be perfectly happy that any civil servant under their own judgment can release any information".
The Cameron-Reid spat descended into bitter recriminations shortly afterwards, leaving the issue resting until a swathe of questions from Tory MPs to the prime minister.
Gordon Brown's stance was more cautious than his opposite number. Despite raucous jeering from the opposition benches requiring numerous interventions from Martin, he stuck to his lines remorselessly.
"I uphold the right of members of parliament to pursue their duties in a way that is necessary for the public interest," he said.
"I want to defend the operational independence of the police. You cannot pick and choose. You either support it or you don't support it."
When pressed on whether he thought it was wrong for police to search Green's office without a warrant, however, the prime minister looked weak.
His retreat behind the ongoing inquiry, prompting jeers from the Tories, will look bad on the news tonight. And that's proof, if any more was needed, that the Green affair will have a political impact – and that MPs on both side of the House know it.
Alex Stevenson