That three-hour debate on Damian Green really was a waste of time. A poll of MPs shows 30 want Michael Martin to go, but how many say that to in the chamber? Nada. We have some honesty from Douglas Carswell and Bob Marshall-Andrews and that’s about it. Some rebellion. All they were left with was innuendo. Dennis MacShane saying that sergeants don’t fall on their swords, officers do. Wink, wink. And that was about as tough as it got. So this pointless committee of grandees will go off, boycotted by the Tories and the LibDems, to report after Green has been cleared.
And report on what? We know pretty much what happened. The police arrested Green for bureaucratic reasons: if they wanted a warrant, they’d have to get one from into what was Bow St Magistrates’ Court – a process which would have demanded a higher burden of proof than they would have been able to deliver.
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