back to article ICO won't investigate Tory minister

Tory justice minister Jonathan Djanogly will not be investigated for setting a team of private investigators on his own constituency staff. Djanogly spent £5,000 getting private detectives to pretend to be journalists in order to find out what local party officials thought of him. His staff criticised him as a poor politician …

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  1. jake Silver badge

    Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

    Pardon as I get a trifle Juvenal on the subject ...

  2. Tony S
    Big Brother

    Not surprised

    The ICO is a toothless wonder. Unless they are prepared to act against the wishes of their poilitical overlords, then they are not independant and therefore have no value.

    As for Mr Djanogly, I suspect that once his constituency party find out what kind of a man he is, they will probably be seeking nominations for a new candidate for the next election.

    1. Ally J
      Unhappy

      Maybe they're stuck with him

      I don't know about the constituency, but it might be that he's been 'parachuted' into a safe seat and Central Office will be leaning on the local party to accept him, or suffer the consequences.

  3. Code Monkey

    Creepy creepy Tory

    Its legality I'll leave to the lawyers but it's certainly creepy.

  4. LPF

    Hmmmm

    How is this different from marketing or carrying out a survey ?

    1. jake Silver badge

      @LPF

      "How is this different from marketing"

      God is an iron ...

    2. Citizen Kaned

      when...

      its not used for anything of any purpose.

      im glad i dont have to pay tax for a while now, since it will only be wasted on useless shite... what do you mean i cant not pay now? oh, someone's moat needs cleaning? my bad!

    3. Bumpy Cat
      Meh

      It's the subterfuge

      Any MP should be entirely comfortable about wandering around his constituency and asking people what they think. If he doesn't have the time or wants a more honest opinion, do a survey which promises anonymity. The fact that he used PIs is just ... well, weird and creepy. Why did he feel the need to do it like that?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @ Hmmmm

    "How is this different from marketing or carrying out a survey ?"

    It isn't ... I suppose the most you could say is that by pretending to be journalists seeking info from constituents is a bit of subterfugue ... but then again, marketing surveys normally will not tell you who they are doing the survey.

    Basically its a case of a Labour MP using the "throw enough mud and some will stick" technique of politics ... hope his constituents notice the mud on his hands!

    1. CaptainHook
      Stop

      Staff not Consituents

      Jonathon Djanogly didn't set the PI's on his constituents, he set them on his own office staff.

    2. John Dougald McCallum
      Devil

      Surveys

      Hmmmmm........not so if you read all the questions as they era written out on the question form usually the last five or six questions will give it away as the will often ask something like what do you think of,or do you like,use product "x" or company "y".

      Just to be the devils advocate.

  6. Not Fred31
    FAIL

    ICO is as useful as a cocolate teapot...

    without the chocolate.

  7. Thomas 4

    Huh?

    Why is a Tory Minister being investigated by a small boy with horns? Has he got evil shadow creatures chasing after him and if so, can we leave the shadow creatures to it?

  8. Richard 12 Silver badge

    Absolutely correct decision from the ICO

    It's got nothing to do with them.

    The only people who could have an interest in this are:

    - The Police if illegal methods are suspected as being used, which appears not to be the case.

    - The Conservative Party as he may be risking losing a Conservative seat by being an idiot.

    - The Labour Party as John Mann MP is also risking losing a Labour seat by being an idiot.

  9. BristolBachelor Gold badge
    Holmes

    Waste of money

    "Djanogly spent £5,000 getting private detectives..."

    "...a poor politician and described him as "lazy" and "dishonest"

    Next £5,000 will be spent to find out if bears shit in the woods, etc.

  10. Graham Marsden

    At least...

    ... he didn't claim it on Expenses!

    (As opposed to eg the nearly £5000 he claimed for installing a set of remote controlled gates for his private home amongst other dubious expenses claims...!)

  11. skoop
    Thumb Up

    lol

    It is quite funny though that the guy has brought attention to the fact that his constituency party think he's dishonest AND lazy. Imagine the damage this guy would do if he could get his act together!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Read it again

      His constituency *workers* think he's lazy and dishonest, not his constituency *party*. Incidentally I think you'd find most people think their boss is dishonest and/or lazy. It's the default opinion of any employee.

      Sounds to me like he's just a bit paranoid. I knew a man once who got in early and hid a cupboard to listen to what his employees thought about him.

      1. airbrush
        Facepalm

        Nit Picker!

        Poorly reported maybe, but who can complain about a bit of fun at the expense of this bunch of no hopers!

  12. druck Silver badge
    Mushroom

    The real reason

    As I commented on The Register's previous poor reporting of this issue:-

    The reason he had to hire a PI was that someone was giving false stories to the press about his expense claims, and he was trying to find out who was responsible. The PI was instructed to pose as a journalist and approach staff and consistency members to see if they would leak further lies.

    It is a fair and reasonable thing to do with your own money, when someone is trying to damage your reputation by associating you with the expenses scandal for political motives. Unfortunately the Right Honourable Mr Mann (Labour) then tried to damage his reputation by associating him with the phone hacking scandal for political motives, as confirmed by the ICO.

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