I don't believe her

The complaint was raised originally by the Home Office for documents leaked to Damien Green. Complaints don't just pop out of thin air then come from the mouths of people and that person knew the source of the leak was her dept and the recipient was Damien Green.

As to whether she knew the police were going to raid Parliament, I bet she and many others (e.g. Mandelson) knew and had approved it or perhaps even initiated it. I don't believe an officer alone would go for it.

But who will investigate this? Who will go seize Home Office emails? Who will go raid and search Home Office computers? The police? The head of the MET is a Home Office appointment!

Really?

Sarjeant? Seriously? and not just once either.

Oh come on!

For those of you saying you dont believe wacky jacqui, what did you expect? After she said people were coming up to her in the street asking for ID cards asap did you really think she would tell the truth about this?

Serjeant

It is Serjeant at Arms yes, iirc it was like a medieval half-knight?

A title is required.

Yes, AC, Sarjeant. Well, Serjeant, anyway...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serjeant-at-Arms

Can we take away AC for people proven to be muppets? :)

Spot the difference :

Operational Independence *

Complete failure of democratic oversight and abrogation of responsibility for such.**

It's amusing that Straw and the other wankers who keep screaming that we aren't in a police state hold that the definition of such is a state in which the government controls the police, rather than one in which the government can't, or won't, control the police.

*<Cough> BAE corruption investigation </>

** And not just in the case of Damien Green, either, but more generally.

Surely not knowing would be worse

than knowing?

We already know she is "economical with the truth" and has a rather "individual" view on ethics so there would be no net loss in her admitting she was involved.

Not knowing about something as serious as this is really Jacqui speak for:

"You know all those bad things you thought about me before? Well get this they are still true but also I am a complete incompetent and the police, you know, technically I'm their boss? well they have nothing but contempt for me at all levels."

@AC 13:40

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serjeant-at-Arms

Meh.

Have a heart

My sympathies are with the University of Oxford, and specifically Hertford College. Every day, in every media and public performance, they must wonder how they were ever privileged to entertain a thinker of such sublime distinction as Jacqueline Jill "Jacqui" Smith on a PPE. That's philosopy, politics, economics - who would have guessed from Ms Smith's oratory?. (Equally wondrous, is the fact that they allow this marketing nugget to persist on Wikipedia).

Perhaps Smith recognised herself as a modern Cartesian fellow-traveller, assailed by doubt, but somehow got stuck in a time warp, continuing to know nothing up to this very day? Or pehaps she was inspired by the classical example of Socrates, gadly of cynics and cynosures, ever seeking someone who actually knew something for sure, but never find him (or her - we mustn't forget the Oracle here :-)? Until that is, she found the theory of truth in a little red book by Mao? Which says, fuck theory - praxis is all that matter, and see it come out the barrel of a gun.

Plausible Deniability

Now, remind me which film that was?

Godwin

Dammit, pipped to the post by AC 14:50. It is like living in Nazi fucking Germany. Without the fun of spanking.

But what's significant...

It isn't that dear Jackie is probably lying through her teeth. It's that everyone who's paid attention to that dimwit's actions since she became Home Secretary has come to that conclusion. The woman has a very bad reputation for lying, a reputation unbefitting a minister of the Crown, and for that reason alone should be purged. How can the country continue to have someone as Home Secretary whom everyone assumes to lie whenever convenient?

This is definitely a case where the optics outweigh the reality, but in a manner NuLabour's spinmeisters probably didn't anticipate.

Question: is it better to actually lie all the time or to have a reputation as someone who does so?

Besides, the twit is nothing more than a former schoolteacher! Of what, one wonders?

Boswelox

If she knew, she's lying. If she didn't, she's not in control (and utterly incompetent).

How long, I wonder, did the police give the Serjeant at Arms to read the document she signed?

And Hazel Blears thinks that bloggers are undermining the state!

Why don't I believe her?

(Apart from the obvious)

Boris Johnson knew beforehand and David Cameron was also informed immediately before.

Are we supposed to believe that servants would have left either the Home Secretary or Prime Minister ignorant of the situation if a senior Tory had got on the phone to tell them this was an outrage?

That Jacqui Smith is ignorant is a given, that she was ignorant of this is a good old fashioned Melton Mowbray of a lie.

re what's significant

She at one point at least taught economics as I worked with someone she'd taught who couldn't stop laughing when her appointment was announced.

I'm guessing plausible deniability, but then she does admit she knew there was an investigation and she obviously knew Green was involved as he'd revealed the leaked documents. So it wouldn't be unreasonable for an educated person to assume the police might want to speak to him at some point. Makes you wonder if the conversation went along the lines of 'just don't tell me when you get to the MP bit so I can deny everything'

As has been said many times either she's lieing or incompotent, but then that seems to be the current qualification for a cabinet post (maybe on their CV they have to declare if they have a Mandelson/Blunkett certificate)

I think she's right

After all, JS could plausibly deny knowledge of ANYTHING

Too many words?

Hasn't your headline got three too many words in it?

Hang on a minute....

Surely if these MP's have nothing to hide,they have nothing to fear from the police exercising their powers.

Anyway, that's the bullshit we get told when it applies to us lowly peasants.

Why not

Use RIPA on Jacqui Smith

We've not come far from Orgreave have we

re: Hang on a minute

And I would agree. We also need to ask the police what they have to hide. Maybe we ought to pop over and check their actions and keep a webcam access to all rooms in the cop shop.

Or won't they like that either?