scienceplease 2
Trustworthy Freedom Fighter
Joined: 06 Apr 2009
Posts: 1702
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 Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:22 am Post subject: Cabinet Minister dumps Terror Papers in Park Bin |
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15301859
| Quote: | Oliver Letwin dumps documents in park bins
Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin has admitted dumping government documents in park bins near No 10.
He was photographed by the Daily Mirror disposing of private letters and government papers over five days.
The paper claims more than 100 were thrown away including correspondence on terrorism, national security and other government business.
Mr Letwin acknowledged he sometimes disposed of copies of letters in the park but denied they were "sensitive".
The minister, who is in charge of developing government policies, was seen in several separate images throwing paperwork in waste bins near Downing Street.
On one occasion the West Dorset MP was captured handing documents to a cleaner holding a bag. 'Personal and confidential'
The Mirror claimed one document described how Parliament's intelligence and security committee (ISC) - which examines the work of MI5 and MI6 and GCHQ - "failed to get the truth" on Britain's involvement in extraordinary rendition.
Human rights groups say the practice of secretly transporting terrorist abroad for interrogation became commonplace after the 11 September attacks on the US but the last Labour government denied any involvement in the practice. Sir Peter Gibson is heading up an inquiry into alleged involvement in torture by UK security agencies.
In one letter reportedly thrown away, Sir Malcolm Rifkind - the chair of the ISC - is urged by a fellow Tory MP to revamp the body to "bolster public confidence in its work and in Parliament's ability to hold intelligence services to account".
The letter's author Andrew Tyrie - chairman of the all-parliamentary committee on extraordinary rendition - notes that their correspondence is "personal and confidential which, of course, I shall fully respect".
The newspaper said that although Mr Letwin tore up the letter, in which Mr Tyrie also questioned the independence of the ISC from government, its contents were still legible.
According to the Mirror, Prime Minister David Cameron, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and Chancellor George Osborne were all mentioned in the discarded documents - reportedly dating between July 2010 and September 2011.
It said other correspondence thrown away touched on subjects such as al-Qaeda's links in Pakistan, the government's flagship Big Society agenda and the future of the Forensic Science Service.
The Mirror said it saw Mr Letwin disposing of the documents in St James's Park, which is adjacent to Downing Street and the Treasury, between 7 September and 10 October.
A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: "Oliver Letwin does some of his parliamentary and constituency correspondence in the park before going to work and sometimes disposes of copies of letters there.
"They are not documents of a sensitive nature."
Labour's deputy chairman Tom Watson said, if the documents included constituency paperwork, they would have the personal details of Mr Letwin's constituents.
"I can tell you that, from personal experience, having had journalists go through my own bins and my neighbour's bins, I would never dispose of paperwork in my own bin, let alone a public bin in a park."
Mr Letwin has been a senior figure in Conservative circles for 20 years and wrote the party's manifesto at the last election. |
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