THE processes allowing police to search MPs' offices in the House of Commons should be reviewed following the Damian Green affair, Harriet Harman, the Leader of the Commons, said yesterday.
Ms Harman said she was "very concerned" at the arrest of the Tory immigration spokesman and the way police had raided his parliamentary and constituency bases.
There were "very big constitutional principles" which needed to be safeguarded, Ms Har
man said, including the rights of MPs to get on with their job without interference from the law.
And she said Michael Martin, the House of Commons Speaker, should look at how police are able to enter the Palace of Westminster once the investigation into Home Office leaks is concluded.
Mr Green was held and questioned for nine hours on Thursday "on suspicion of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office".
His homes and offices, including in the House of Commons, were searched and his computer, phone and other communications equipment seized in the raids.
It followed the earlier arrest and then suspension of a junior official, believed to be 26-year-old Chris Galley.
Several MPs have expressed their outrage at how the affair has been handled, and Ms Harman said: "I think the Speaker might well want to review the processes by which authorisation is given to search the Palace of Westminster."
She added: "We have got to be sure that whilst MPs are not above the law, they are able to get on with their job without unwarranted interference by the law.
"These are very, very big constitutional principles, we have to make sure they are protected. We should hold fire until after this investigation and then we can look at the complete picture and the process by which police come into the House of Commons, search an MP's office, take the computers – all of that sort of thing will have to be looked at."
Asked whether ministers should have intervened to stop the raids, Ms Harman said the operational independence of the police was very important and everybody agreed it would be bad if politicians were able to decide what the police did.
But she also defended the rights of the Opposition to hold the government to account while pointing out that MPs are not above the law.
And she said a professional and impartial civil service was very important. "I'm very concerned indeed," Ms Harman said. "I think there are a number of fundamental principles that we all want to make sure are protected."
Also yesterday, David Cameron, the Tory leader, demanded Gordon Brown denounce the move or face charges of hypocrisy.
The Prime Minister declared at the weekend that the decision to question Mr Green and search his home and offices was "a matter for the police" of which he had no prior knowledge.
But amid mounting anger and disquiet at Westminster over the action, Mr Cameron said that the PM had a duty to speak out.
In a Sunday newspaper, he wrote: "When it comes to vigorous opposition, if this approach had been in place in the 1990s, then Gordon Brown would have spent most of his time under arrest.
"He made his career from passing on Whitehall leaks. And he'll be guilty of hypocrisy if he doesn't speak out."
The full article contains 564 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
