Damien Green MP Cleared of all Charges

More embarrassment for beleaguered Home Secretary Jacqui Smith emerged over the weekend - Tory MP and immigration spokesman Damien Green and civil servant Chris Galley were cleared of all charges after prosecutors ruled that they were acting in the public interest by leaking a series of confidential information from the Home Office.

Green and Galley were arrested by anti-terror police six months ago in a highly controversial move after a series of embarrassing revelations emerged about the poor way the Home Office was being run, including huge backlogs in immigration cases.

Sir David Normington, the Home Office's leading civil servant, claimed that national security was at stake.

The Director of Public Prosecutions begged to differ, however, stating that the information leaked was not secret.

Whilst Mr Green blamed Smith for his 6 month ordeal which included his home and Commons office being searched and being threatened with life imprisonment, he stopped short of calling for her resignation.

Chris Galley, however, insists that the public had a right to know just how badly the Home Office is being run - he says he would do it all again, even after being threatened with life in prison.

The case raises many disturbing questions - why the Home Office and asylum application system is in meltdown, and what's being done about it; why the Home Secretary is more concerned about covering it up than rectifying it; the increasing politicisation of the police and abuse of anti-terror legislation to suit the government's ends; but also why any opposition politician who actually does their job is increasingly seen as a threat to 'democracy'.

There are simple and predictable answers to all of the above questions, but none of them address the core issue of the incompetence and lethargy increasingly found in the attitude of Britain's politicians.

The road this country is on has a very unpleasant destination indeed, and I for one am very glad men such as Damien Green, David Davis and Chris Galley are prepared to stand up and say enough is enough, no matter how ineffectual the results.