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Mandelson blasts Conservative links to mole
Nicholas Cecil03.12.08
Lord Mandelson today raised the stakes in the row over the Home Office mole with a ferocious attack on the leaker and his Conservative handlers.
Breaking the convention that ministers do not comment on individual cases, he suggested that mole Christopher Galley gave secrets to further his ambitions in the Tory party.
"The separate and equally important issue is the apparent relationship between the Opposition and the Home Office official who, in an attempt to pursue his political ambitions in the Conservative party, allegedly seemed systematically to pass sensitive and classified Home Office papers to the Conservative party, apparently in full knowledge of the Conservative party front bench and in complete breach of the Civil Service Code and the law," Lord Mandelson told BBC radio.
He accused the Conservatives of manufacturing a row over the police raids on the Commons office of Tory frontbencher Damian Green as a "smokescreen" to hide their own role in possibly breaking the law.
"Whilst I recognise the anger being expressed by some MPs is no doubt sincerely expressed by some of them, I also think it is particularly self-serving of Conservative MPs who want to put up a smokescreen to hide their own party's relationship in allegedly colluding with a Home Office official in breaking the law," he said.
The Commons Speaker Michael Martin was warned today to "say sorry or you're toast" over his failure to stop the raid on Mr Green's office.
Tory and Liberal Democrat grandees were today ready to challenge the Speaker if he refuses to allow a proper debate on the decision to let detectives search Mr Green's Commons room. But backbench MP Richard Bacon, who was rallying support to challenge the Speaker's authority, issued a blunt warning.
Mr Bacon wanted a meeting with Mr Martin. He managed to speak only to his secretary Angus Sinclair but left him in no doubt about the anger among MPs over the affair.
"He needs to say, sorry, it should not have happened, I take responsibility and it won't happen again," the Conservative MP said he told Mr Sinclair.
"If he says anything less than that I think he's almost certainly toast and he may be toast anyway."
Reader views (5)
Surely Lord Mandelson words sound so similar to the practise he and Brown carried out when in opposition,
Just substitute the word Labour for Conservative in the paragraph
'The separate ...told radio BBC'.
Brown even proudly boasted about it on television, talk about double standards!!!
- Edward, UK
The finest testiment to ones diligence and honest then. An attack by Lord Mandelson.
- W, uk
I only hope this twice-disgraced menace to society keeps up his high profile bilge until the next election. Mandelson is a sure vote loser if ever there was one if he keeps up his spiteful utterances until the next election. This phoney has got very wealthy in the greasiest of ways over the years. As unelected EU Commissioner he wielded huge amounts of power-far more than is warranted for such a man- and now as unelected member of the Government now seeks to vent his spiteful ways towards elected Conservative politicians. He represents all that is dislikable about the Labour Party, and one can only hope he keeps it up until the next election to serve as a reminder that such characters represent all that is bad about the current Government. Keep venting, Mandy- you're doing a cracking job at seeing Brown and co get booted out of office next time.
- Richard, Haringey, London, UK
What other sort of comment would you expect from a twice disgraced "Lordship".If anyone furthers the loss of Labour in the next election it is a toss up between Gord & Mandy-can't stand the sight of either of them,wants to make you puke.
- Harvey Lawrence, london
Lord Mandelson is the last person to comment on probity or morality.This is the man who was forced to resign as Trade Secretary because it was revealed he had borrowed money from Geoffery Robinson a govt minister whose affairs were being investigated by Mandelsons department.
- Alex Pomeroy, london
