British Democracy Forum
Political Blogs>Purple Scorpion: Two press conferences
Blog Bot 07:20 PM 01-12-2008
ImageGreat to be able to see press conferences on television and form a view of the people making the statements and answering the questions.

The solicitor for Christopher Galley, Damian Green's informant, performed well. The BBC report captures the flavour. The solicitor also strongly made the point that no national security was put at risk by the leaks and there were no financial implications.

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.

Mr Galley feels the matters he disclosed should have been in the public arena, and evidently that is what he will argue to a jury if a charge comes to trial. The solicitor has killed the case. It's dead. And Mr Galley is highly unlikely to testify against Damian Green.

Of course Jackboot Smith would never tip anyone the wink (how stalinist that would be), but if the police do blunder on, expect the CPS to decide after a decent interval that a prosecution would not be in the public interest.

The Haringey press conference about Baby P was pretty woeful. The BBC report is still repeating what Ed Balls said, that "three people have lost their jobs" (including the two councillors who resigned from their posts), whereas it was said at the press conference that six employees have been suspended on full pay in accordance with employment law. Why did the resignations and suspensions only happen after the external panel stripped off the whitewash of Sharon Shoesmith's own - belated - summary of what had happened? No one asked.

All the Haringey representatives came over as pedestrian. The chief executive, under whom this happened, is still in post. What had she done in the months since Baby P's death? Apparently nothing. The deputy leader says all Lord Laming's important recommendations had been implemented. So why is he progressing around the country reviewing other councils if his recommendations last time failed to prevent the death of this baby after he was visited 60 times?

And the whistleblower ignored by the government apparatus was right. So there are questions for ministers to answer too.

And would there have been an independent report at all if David Cameron had not pummelled Gordon Brown at PMQs? Why had this fatally dysfunctional department been allowed to go on operating for so many months? How many children have suffered meanwhile?

We have not heard the last of this. Meanwhile, Mark Easton on the Radio 4 6 o'clock news reported Gordon Brown's taunt at PMQs about the case becoming a party political point as if that claim had had some merit to it. That was clearly not so.

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