The mole speaks

Sally C

Not just that. What about the smears that have come from the police saying he said he was induced etc. had implicated Green etc. lies.

He wasn’t groomed. He wasn’t bribed. He wasn’t coerced. He believed he was being responsible and public spirited and Mr Green, the same.

And he did not say anything otherwise to pc plod.

The search was a fishing expedition and the smears/leaks were yet more lies and intimidation.

NICK ROBINSON NEEDS TO EAT HIS WORDS

Sally C

Time for a lot of people to eat their words.

Where did all those reports /leaks[?]come from saying he had reported to the police he was 'groomed' or induced.
Lies
The police?
The Govt?

John Charles all over again. So Mr Galley told them 'everything' and this is it!

Green was telling the truth. And Green was arrested on a fishing expedition so they could search without having to get a warrant signed off by a judge/magistrate - that would almost certainly have been an obstacle.

This shows why Jaqui's excuse that she was not following events to be as bad is if she were.

Hoolio

I agree with Sally C. At every stage during the unfolding of this story, the BBC has been quite shocking in its pro-Labour bias.

First the BBC tried to bury the story. Then they highlighted the various Labour denials; in fact we had a procession of such denials culminating this morning with Jack Straw on the Today programme. Then they smeared, and smeared some more. In fact the BBC made some truly disgusting allegations.

I despair.

Fenman

And just to add to the last remark on Smith- with the pound at the level of 1992 "bang" goes Brown`s last retort to Cameron on fiscal responsibility

strapworld

I found the short press conference extremely interesting.

Mr Galley has engaged extremely capable solicitors. They have effectively rubbished all the claims, rumours and whispers.

They have isolated the Home Secretary, the over promoted Mrs Smith, and the ghastly Prime Minister. They are now in a cul de sac of their own making.

I think this is building up to a crescendo which will see political careers ended.

Obviously they thought Mr Balls would take the matter away. Balls lived up to his name. He led everyone to believe people had been sacked! NONE have.

More bad headlines, especially in the SUN tomorrow.

Talking about the SUN read Trevor Kavanagh in todays edition.

b r i l l i a n t.

John Page

On the contrary, Peter, the solicitor has put the case squarely in the political arena, away from legal technicalities.

He stressed that Mr Galley has not been charged, and added he hopes he won't be, as well as complaining that his treatment by the police had been heavy-handed.

In effect he was taking the issue out of the legal arena, and warning the government that he will make an embarrassing political case against them if they pursue Mr Galley - an argument, incidentally, that would benefit Damian Green too.

http://thepurplescorpion.blogspot.com/2008/12/two-press-conferences.html

Alex

politicalbetting.com reports that there's new poll tonight, from ComRes, which might give us a sense of the initial public reaction.

oldtimer

So who should we shoot, if not the messenger? Jacqui Smith looks a prime target. And I quite liked the idea, floated by the man from Civitas in the Telegraph letters, that certain officials should be impeached.

teledu

From Daily Mail: Benedict Brogan blog, might interest a few of you in the Coffe House at this late hour:-
"Harman's secret operation to rescue Speaker"

Luck is still going the way of the Conservatives. Somebody in Harriet Harman's office has sent an email to a Tory frontbencher by mistake, and in the spirit of troublemaking transparency they have just released it.

It reveals that the Leader of the House has invited Jacqui Smith, Jack Straw and others to a lunchtime meeting tomorrow to discuss "arrangements for the Queen's Speech and considerations in advance of the Speakers' statement on police action and Parliament". The guest list - and I should point out that I don't know if any of them will accept - includes the Home Secretary, the Justice Secretary, Chief Whip Nick Brown, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, officials from the Speaker's office, the Cabinet Office and No10, the Serjeant, and the Clerk of the Commons.

Given what Ms Harman had to say on Sunday about the need for an inquiry, this looks like a Government attempt to launch a rescue operation for the hapless Mr Martin. You could see why Ms Harman has decided to seize control of this disaster. In fact, with the Met, the Home Office, No10, and the Speaker seemingly bent on driving off the cliff, It's tempting to give her credit for trying.

Ben Elford

It's reassuring that at this time of constitutional crisis, Newsnight is electing to devote a substantial amount of tonight's programme to rerunning some hot air about climate change, while sparing a few moments for Michael Crick's comments on today's press conference.