Easter 'Bomb Plot' Bad News Buried

An Easter 'bomb plot' to blow up Britain which dominated the news headlines has turned out to be a damp squib, with the release of all the suspects buried on the day of all the budget hype. When the going gets tough, the tough get going or in the case of the beleaguered home secretary - play the terror card. 

There's nothing like a good old fashioned terror bomb plot to get the public pulse a-racing, the headlines a-spinning and ministers off the hook - and this was nothing like a good old fashioned bomb plot.

The Orange Party smelt a rat as Smith's pal, bungling Bob Quick, was forced to make a quick departure after exposing a dastardly bomb plot in the full glare of the media spotlight. 

That was swiftly followed by a massive police swoop equally played out in the full glare of the media to capture the headlines and bury Smeargate. 

Now all 12 men arrested have been released without charge. Eleven - all Pakistani nationals -  face deportation, presumably back to their tribal homelands.

Second-guessing the obvious question, Manchester police chief, Peter Fahy, defended the inquiry and said he was not "embarrassed or humiliated".

Well clearly someone should be.

The Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to press charges or hold the men any longer. Lawyers for the men point out that they have not been charged and are innocent of any crime. 

In a masterstroke of political timing, the Easter 'bomb plot' came as Smith was up to her neck fiddling expenses. The Met too was coming under fire over police G20 thuggery and the unprovoked killing of bystander Ian Tomlinson. 

In the shady, murky world of plots and terrorism, it's impossible to get to the bottom of what goes on behind closed doors. 

But what seems to be clear is that there was  no bomb, no detonators, no nothing and significantly no paper or email trail which could make a conspiracy charge stick. Innocent until proven guilty.

Of the 12 men arrested in the raids, 10 were holding student visas. The sub plot did thicken however as the sorry state of UK border security and the incompetence of government policing of bogus colleges for overseas students was exposed. 

Only on Monday, home secretary Smith had the cheek to tell MPs that Quick's "error" had not damaged the operation and the raids had been brought forward only "by a matter of hours". That was a tad prejudicial, given today's outcome. 

In a remarkable example of stating the bleedin' obvious, the BBC's "security correspondent" Gordon Corera said: "I think there will be a sense of a need to learn some lessons from this in terms of public presentation." 

Quite. And the rest.

Read More...

Smith's Favourite Cop Quick Quits

The home secretary's favourite copper has been forced to quit after a bungling blunder ended the Met's cosy relationship with ministers. But it's taken a long while for blundering Bob Quick to be prised out of his job, as the wind of change finally blows, in a wake up call for the Met, the political police and the government. For the Tories, revenge is a dish best served cold. 

The government's cosy relationship with the Met is so over the top it's almost laughable. Quick is now knackered of the Yard - to be replaced by Yates of the Yard. His latest blunder is the final straw.

Strolling into Downing Street with a top-secret anti-terrorism document under his arm in full view of photographers hardly puts public faith in the head of counter-terrorism who is set to leave without his dignity but with a generous pension pot. 

But the home secretary's only response was to blissfully ignore the whole thing. Smith made no comment about the blatant blunder. Instead, she praised police for their professionalism.

Any PC plod would have been sacked on the spot but not the home secretary's best friend. But his fate was sealed when shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, who, while not exactly calling for his head, said in politicianspeak: "It had to be decided whether he was really the right man for the job."

London mayor Boris Johnson too was quick to get in some credit for Quick's demise. A tad too quick. Sour grapes by the Tories maybe but Quick's fate was already sealed after the Downing Street blunder.  

For a top cop he has repeatedly shown a monumental lack of judgement as he sucked up to the government and rounded on the Conservatives, blissfully unaware they are Her Majesty's Official Opposition and the government-in-waiting.

In December, Smith's copper was forced to make an unprecedented apology  after a direct police attack on the Tories  blew out of the water any pretence the Met is not a highly politicised arm of the current government. 

At the time the Orange Party asked: Now the only question is how quick will Quick go? 

Quick was forced to  issue an "unreserved" apology to the Conservative Party after his outburst accusing the Tories of behaving in a "corrupt" way and mobilising the press against the Met. 

Publicly the Tories  drew a line under it, privately they must have been seething.

And, to top it all, Quick was clearly peeved with Mail on Sunday hacks sniffing around his wife's luxury car hire firm run from the family home but too quick to lay the blame.  

To make matters worse, Quick's absurd and damaging outburst re-ignited the whole Damian Green affair. Quick ordered the controversial arrest last year of senior Tory MP Damian Green and sent 20 anti-terrorist officers to search Green's parliamentary office. 

That called into question the political bias of Quick, a keen supporter of the home secretary's 42 day detention, who is also heading an inquiry into the alleged home office leaks which sparked off the Greengate scandal.

But times when police could pander to politicians and get away with it are changing and the Met should get used to it. 

Quick's shoes are being filled by Yates of the Yard, commander John Yates, who famously and doggedly pursued the 'cash for honours' scandal until he was told to drop it. 

Yates has the brains, temperament and sensitivity to handle this crucial top job. More importantly, it seems he's a copper who won't pander to politicians or be pushed around by politicians of whatever colour or flavour of the month. 

With a criminal investigation underway into masked police thuggery over the death of an innocent G20 bystander, Quick's quick exit may be a small step to restore some much-needed public confidence in the police.   

Picture: BBC

Read More...

Quick Now Knackered Of The Yard

The home secretary's favourite copper has been forced to make an unprecedented apology to the Tories, in a wake up call for the Met and the political police. Now the only question is how quick will Quick go?

A direct police attack on Her Majesty's Opposition had blown out of the water any pretence the Met is not a highly politicised arm of the current government.

Now assistant commissioner, Bob Quick, head of the counter-terror squad, has issued an "unreserved" apology to the Conservative Party after his outburst accusing the Tories of behaving in a "corrupt" way and mobilising the press against the Met.

Publicly the Tories have drawn a line under it, privately they must be seething.

Quick was clearly peeved with Mail on Sunday hacks sniffing around his wife's luxury car hire firm run from the family home but too quick to lay the blame. Absurd and churlish comments were to be expected. But to accuse Her Majesty's Opposition of behaving in a "corrupt" way was at best naive, at worse an inexcusable affront to democracy.

Only a fool would directly accuse the Tories of being in some way behind the Mail on Sunday expose without a shred of evidence. Mail journalists don't need Tory politicians to do their dirty work.

But the Conservatives are not a two bit political party that police can trample all over. They are officially Her Majesty's Opposition and, as such, parliament affords them rights and privileges.

Slowly the Met is having to wake up to the fact that the official Opposition has just as an important right and part to play in democracy as the government of the day.

But that of course is what is getting up the nose of the government and its pals at the Yard, which is no stranger to corruption claims against it. Accusing someone else of being corrupt is a bit rich coming from the Met.

To make matters worse, Quick's absurd and damaging outburst re-ignited the whole Damian Green affair which all key players now hoped will just go away. It called into question the political bias of Quick, a keen supporter of the home secretary's 42 day detention, who is also heading an inquiry into the alleged home office leaks which sparked off the Greengate scandal.

No politician wants Green's part in that affair to drag on for much longer. There's too much at stake for the government's credibility. Many are expecting any allegations against the MP to be dropped, leaving parliament and MPs to deal with the vexed questions of the unwarranted police raid on the sanctity of parliament.

The government's cosy relationship with the Met is so over the top it's almost laughable. But times when police could pander to politicians are changing and the Met should get used to it.

Mayor Johnson fired a warning shot over the bows, when Blair's poodle and namesake Sir Ian Blair was forced to quit as commissioner because he'd lost the confidence of the Conservative London mayor.

Top jobs in the Met will no longer be handed out as rewards and favours to faithful supporters who suck up to government and to keep them in line. The 'cash for peerages' scandal showed where that corruption can lead.

That, commander Quick, was corruption. What is starting to happen now is called democracy.

Read More...