Leveson's Punch and Judy Show by John Pilger

My favourite laugh-out-loud quote of His Lordship is: "I have seen no basis at any stage for challenging the integrity of the police."

Leveson's Punch and Judy show on the press masks 'hacking' on a scale you can barely imagine
John Pilger
6 December 2012


In the week Lord Leveson published almost a million words about his inquiry into the "culture, practice and ethics" of Britain's corporate press, two illuminating books about media and freedom were also published. Their contrast with the Punch and Judy show staged by Leveson is striking.

Sans Caption

For 36 years, Project Censored, based in California, has documented critically important stories unreported or suppressed by the media most Americans watch or read. This year's report is Censored 2013: Dispatches from the media revolution by Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth (Seven Stories Press). They describe the omissions of "mainstream" journalism as "history in the un-making". Unlike Leveson, their investigation demonstrates the sham of a system claiming to be free. Among their top 25 censored stories are these:


Since 2001, the United States has erected a police state apparatus including a presidential order that allows the US military to detain anyone indefinitely without trial. FBI agents are now responsible for the majority of terrorist plots, with a network of 15,000 spies "encouraging and assisting people to commit crimes". Informants receive cash rewards of up to $100,000.


The bombing of civilian targets in Libya in 2011 was often deliberate and included the main water supply facility that provided water to 70 per cent of the population. In Afghanistan, the murder of 16 unarmed civilians, including children, attributed to one rogue US soldier, was actually committed by "multiple" soldiers, and covered up. In Syria, the US, Britain and France are funding and arming the icon of terrorism, al-Qaida. In Latin America, one US bank has laundered $378bn. in drug money.


In Britain, this world of subjugated news and information is concealed behind a similar façade of a "free" media, which promotes the extremisms of state corruption and war, consumerism and an impoverishment known as "austerity". Leveson devoted his "inquiry" to the preservation of this system. My favourite laugh-out-loud quote of His Lordship is: "I have seen no basis at any stage for challenging the integrity of the police."

Captioned

Those who have long tired of deconstructing the clichés and deceptions of "news" say: "At least there is the internet now." More John Pilger

Integrity: Such a Funny Word. Leveson Yates

I'm at a loss for who has the lesser, Justice Leveson or the fellow he is trying to whitewash, the disgraced, recently resigned, fled to Bahrain, Murdoch lackey, John Yates?

Met Police ignored "vociferous" phone hacking warnings from own detectives 

Senior detectives have questioned the Metropolitan Police's version of events over phone hacking after claiming that "vociferous" warnings were ignored and that official records are "inaccurate 

By Steven Swinford
02 Dec 2012 

Keith Surtees, an investigating officer with the Metropolitan police's original hacking inquiry, said that in 2009 he repeatedly told John Yates, the then Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, that the phone hacking investigation should be re-opened. 

He said his officers had found evidence that "criminality extended further" than a single journalist and private investigator, but that his warnings were not recorded in official minutes of meetings between senior officers. 

The claims come amid growing concerns that police were let off "far too lightly" by Lord Justice Leveson, who concluded that police conducted themselves with "integrity at all times". 

He said that while poor decisions had been taken, there was no evidence of corruption or that the closeness of senior officers to News International had hampered investigations. 

Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, a former Conservative security adviser, said: "One of the things I find most surprising about the Leveson review is that angle, that part of the story was not tackled in a great deal more depth than it was and I think that the police have been let off far too lightly." 

In a late submission to the Leveson Inquiry, Detective Chief Superintendent Keith Surtees provided detailed information which appears to contradict the Metropolitan police's official account. 

DCS Surtees was one of the lead investigators in the original phone hacking inquiry in 2006, which led to the arrest of a Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, and Clive Goodman, a News of the World journalist, for hacking voicemails of members of the royal household. 

According to an assessment from May 2006, DCS Surtees was concerned that phone hacking extended significantly further and urged senior officers to consider "wider investigation".
In handwritten notes, he later added: "In many [cases] there is simply the name of a celebrity or well known public figure and these develop into sheets detailing home addresses, business addresses, telephone humbers, DDNS, account numbers, passwords, pin numbers and scribblings of private information." 

The Metropolitan Police, however, decided not to investigate further amid fears it would detract from terrorist investigations. 

In July 2009, Assistant Commissioner John Yates spent less than a day reviewing the earlier investigation into phone hacking, before deciding there were no grounds for re-opening the inquiry. 

DCS Surtees said that he repeatedly raised concerns about the decision: "On more than one occasion .. I voiced my concern that the original investigation could and should be re-opened or re-examined and suggested either HMIC [Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary] or another Force should undertake such a task. 

"I explained that the reasons for ending all activity in 2006, including the victim notification strategy, no longer existed in 2009." His claims were corroborated by the statement of another senior officer. 

He said that minutes of the "Gold" group meeting of senior officers, which was attended by Assistant Commissioner Yates, were did not reflect his concerns. "My view is that they are not a wholly complete or accurate reflection of what was discussed," he said. 

A spokesman from the Metropolitan Police declined to comment. 

A friend of Mr Yates said: "He and everyone else all thought it [phone hacking] went wider but there was no evidence that they could use for prosecution. The News of the World were not co-operating and the phone companies no longer held the records. So yes, Keith may have said this but the context is vital." 

Tom Watson, the deputy chairman of the Labour Party, said: "This is a remarkable submission. It shows that there was very strong disagreement over whether there was a case to be answered in 2009. He directly contradicts the account of John Yates and the official record." Telegraph

Original

Previous: John Prescott: ''I just didn't believe him'' - John Yates

Lots more in the sidebar under the John Yates tag.

Police Let Off 'far too lightly' by Leveson Inquiry

Police let off 'far too lightly' by Leveson inquiry

Police were let off "far too lightly" during the Leveson inquiry after failing to re-open the phone hacking inquiry four years ago, a former Home Office minister has said.
By Steven Swinford and Christopher Hope
02 Dec 2012

Lord Justice Leveson insisted in his report that the police conducted themselves with "integrity at all times" during the original phone hacking investigation.

He said that while poor decisions had been taken, there was no evidence of corruption or that the closeness of senior officers to News International had hampered investigations.

Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones told Radio Four’s Any Questions: "One of the things I find most surprising about the Leveson review is that angle, that part of the story was not tackled in a great deal more depth than it was and I think that the police have been let off far too lightly.”

She also said she was opposed to new press laws. She said: "I am concerned by the proposal that was put foward. We don't need the law."

Lord Justice Leveson did criticise John Yates, the former assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard, over his friendship with a News of the World executive.

He said he should have declined to review the original phone-hacking investigation and that it was a matter of "regret" that he did not.

Mr Yates spent less than a day reviewing a 2006 Metropolitan Police investigation into phone hacking, deciding there were no grounds for re-opening the inquiry into material seized from the private detective Glenn Mulcaire.

A subsequent review by another officer in 2010 led to Operation Weeting, the ongoing investigation into phone-hacking which has so far led to more than 20 arrests, with charges against eight people including the former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson.

The Leveson Inquiry heard that Mr Yates attended football matches with Mr Wallis, went to dinners with him and regarded him as “a good friend”.

Lord Justice Leveson said that when Mr Yates was asked to review Operation Caryatid, the original phone hacking inquiry: “I regret that Assistant Commissioner Yates did not reflect on whether he should be involved in an investigation into the newspaper at which he had friends…he would have been better advised to arrange for a different officer to conduct it.”

He said the “incredibly swift” dismissal in 2009 of a Guardian article suggesting there were 3,000 victims of phone hacking and a “continued defensive mindset” over re-opening the investigation contributed to concerns that the police were “reluctant” to do so because officers had “become too close to News International and its staff”.

Such a perception had been “extremely damaging” to the standing of Scotland Yard.
Other officers also come in for criticism.

Andy Hayman, who was in overall charge of Operation Caryatid during his time as assistant commissioner, was “extremely unwise” to accept hospitality from the News of the World at a time when it was coming under investigation.

Mr Hayman went to dinner with Andy Coulson, then editor of the News of the World, and Neil Wallis the day before Operation Caryatid was formally launched, and this had “fuelled the perception” that a decision to arrest only one News of the World journalist and one private detective was “a specific consequence of that relationship”.

The Inquiry had heard that Dick Fedorcio, the Met’s former head of communications, put Mrs Brooks in touch with an officer at the Met’s stables when she asked for the loan of a retired police horse in 2007.

Lord Justice Leveson said Mr Fedorcio’s help “went beyond what a member of the public could expect in similar circumstances” but did not result in anything “irregular”.

Sir Paul Stephenson, who resigned as commissioner after it emerged he had accepted a free stay at the Champneys health resort while he was recovering from an operation, was portrayed as a victim of circumstance.

Sir Paul came under fire when it emerged that Champneys had been represented by Neil Wallis’s public relations company, Chamy Media, but Lord Justice Leveson accepted that Sir Paul was unaware of any connection between Champneys and Mr Wallis at the time.

Mr Wallis had been employed by the Met as an external PR consultant, but any suggestion that the stay at Champneys was “a reward in kind from Mr Wallis for previous favours” was “simply not borne out” by the facts.

Overall, said Lord Justice Leveson: “There is no evidence to suggest that anyone was influenced either directly or indirectly in the conduct of the [hacking] investigation by any fear or wish for favour from News International.”

In a wider context, “the Inquiry has not unearthed extensive evidence of police corruption nor is there evidence…that significant numbers of police officers lack integrity”. Telegraph

Leveson Credibility Zero

John Yates should have handed phone hacking investigation to other officer because of News of the World links, says LevesonMartin Hickman
29 Nov 2012

Police blunders meant that the inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World was not reopened for years, the Leveson Inquiry found.

Between 2006 and 2010 Scotland Yard adopted a “defensive mindset” when it should have been taking accusations of criminal wrongdoing seriously, it said.

In particular Lord Leveson found that Assistant Commissioner John Yates should have stood aside and asked another officer to review the original inquiry because of his friendship with the News of the World's deputy editor, Neil Wallis.

However the report said there was no evidence of corruption among senior officers and ruled out a fear of the News of the World's owners as a factor in the inadequacy of its investigations.

It also said the Met had been right to limit its original investigation in 2006, Operation Caryatid, because of the importance of tackling an upsurge in terrorism The report ruled that the Crown Prosecution Service acted properly in 2006 and later, on the basis of the incomplete evidence supplied to it by the police.

Lord Leveson acknowledged that there was “a concern” that senior police officers had become too close to News International.

However he concluded: "In reality, I am satisfied that I have seen no basis at any stage [to question] the integrity of the police, or that of the senior officers concerned. What is, however, equally clear is that a series of poor decisions, poorly executed, all came together to contribute to the perception that I have recognised.“ Independent

Champagnegate: It Just Keeps on Giving

Although to listen to John 'Integrity' Yates and now Lucy Panton, Champagne flowed like misers' sweat.

Who was it that said: Never believe anything until it's officially denied, Bismark? or was it Sir Humphrey?

Nevertheless, regarding Panton's 'evidence', if I were a teacher marking homework, I would say: Panton! you've been cribbing off Yates.

Ex-Met police boss John Yates attended News of the World reporter's wedding

Paper's former crime editor tells Leveson inquiry that senior officer who reviewed phone-hacking case was among guests
Lisa O'Carroll
3 April 2012



The Scotland Yard officer who decided against reopening the investigation in 2009 into News of the World phone hacking attended the wedding of the paper's crime editor, the Leveson inquiry heard.

John Yates, then an assistant commissioner, was at the wedding of Lucy Panton, who married Scotland Yard officer Daniel Beck in 2004.

However, Panton told the inquiry into press ethics that she did not classify Yates as a good friend and it was the only time she had socialised with him outside of work.

"There were quite a few people at my wedding who I would class as working friends, who I did not socialise with outside of work and Mr Yates fell into that category," she said adding, "There were a lot of people at my wedding."

The counsel for the inquiry, Robert Jay QC, was pursuing a line of questioning that flowed from evidence to the inquiry last month suggesting that both Yates and another former Met assistant commissioner, Andy Hayman, had enjoyed fine dining and drinks with News of the World figures including Panton and Neil Wallis, the paper's former deputy editor.

The Scotland Yard gifts and hospitality register showed that Hayman had spent £47 on a bottle of champagne at Oriel restaurant from someone he recalls was from the paper, and was possibly female. "I am confident this was not me," Panton told the inquiry, pointing out her preferred drink was a "dry white wine" or a soft drink as she was pregnant during the period in question.

The inquiry had previously heard how James Mellor, one of her bosses at the paper had fired off an email telling her it was "time to call in all those bottles of champagne … really need an exclusive splash line … John Yates could be crucial". However, the reference to champagne was "banter mixed with pressure" to get a story, said Panton today.

She admitted she had drunk champagne with police officers and this would have included Hayman, but only in the company of others. "We used to have champagne at the Crime Reporters' Association Christmas parties – just a bottle at the beginning, or maybe two," she said. "It didn't flow in huge quantities."

Panton was arrested last year in relation to the Met's Operation Elveden investigation into payments to police, but was told by Jay she would not face any questions on this subject.

She said her relationship with the police was a professional one and pointed out that neither Yates and Hayman were a great help in producing stories for the newspaper. "That's why I didn't spend a lot of time with them," she said.

She confirmed that she once wrote a story for the paper from a computer in the office of former Scotland Yard director of public affairs Dick Fedorcio, adding that she did it because it was more convenient that using her BlackBerry.

Panton worked for the News of the World till it closed abruptly last July and is now based at home with her children. guardian

John Yates is a Bent Scumbag Copper: It's Time He Was Nicked For Corruption

Ex-copper that should read.

''I've done nothing wrong, but I shall resign my two hundred grand a year job.''

Just like his gaffer resigned from his quarter of a million little earner.

Met spent £5,000 on Yates's legal bill without authorisation
By Cahal Milmo
26 September 2011

Scotland yard has been accused of spending more than £5,000 without authorisation on legal advice from a high-profile libel firm for one of its top police officers to enable him to pursue a defamation complaint, The Independent can reveal.

The Yard paid a total of £7,175 earlier this year to enable former assistant commissioner John Yates to hire the law firm Carter Ruck after a national newspaper published an article that he believed questioned his integrity with regard to the investigation of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. Mr Yates resigned in July amid criticism of his conduct.

The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), which must authorise any spending by the Yard on external lawyers to defend the reputation of a serving officer, confirmed yesterday that it had set a cap of £1,500 on that expenditure.

Police sources said they believed the additional funding had been authorised, but the MPA has demanded an "urgent investigation" after its chairman, Kit Malthouse, was forced to apologise to MPs for providing incorrect information about the amount spent on legal fees. He also had to write to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee to correct the figure.

An MPA source said Mr Malthouse was "not best pleased" at the disclosure of the additional spending.

Mr Malthouse said: "I have asked for an urgent inquiry as to why my decision to cap that expenditure was not adhered to."

The alleged unauthorised overspend came to light during the new Met Commissioner Bernard Hogan Howe's first appearance before the MPA last week. In response to a question from Liberal Democrat authority member Dee Doocey, Mr Hogan Howe said that in addition to a previously disclosed payment to Carter Ruck of £1,175 in March this year, the Yard had paid out a further £6,000 the following month. Carter Ruck, which has a reputation for aggressively pursuing its clients' defamation claims, sent letters to newspapers on behalf of Mr Yates after a story in The Guardian and other outlets about his decision in 2009 not to reopen the Yard's investigation into the hacking affair.

Mr Yates won an apology from the London Evening Standard for a story which suggested that he decided not to review the original investigation because he was afraid the News of the World would expose an alleged affair. But Mr Yates had separated from his wife and was openly in a new relationship. The Independent understands that the cost of the legal action against the Standard was not met by the MPA or the Yard.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "Funding for defamation work is available in exceptional cases where national publicity involves a major slur against the MPS as a whole, as opposed to an individual. It was felt that this case met that level and funding was approved.

"The request for payment was submitted in good faith.

"We will provide our fullest support to the MPA to help them find out exactly how the issue of the 'cap' was communicated." Independent

A Matter of Respect

A Matter of Respect
by Mike Hitchen
17 August 2011

Cameron, since the outbreak of rioting that blissfully for you, detracted from the hacking scandal you were struggling to survive, you have harped on about young people having respect for authority.

Good point - excellent old chap. Here here. Jolly well said.

Just one question.

With a whole list of county set Chief Constables, Deputy Chief Constables, police lawyers, and senior officers under investigation for alleged criminal activity; apart from the police canteen waitress, just who is left for the disenfranchised youth left to respect?

You perhaps?

The man who has caused chaos in Libya? The man who tried to sell arms to an unstable political system in Egypt? The man who believes that anyone who, quote: "screws up" deserves a, quote: "second chance" when referring to Andy Coulson, a man whose integrity and honesty has at the very least, come under close and warranted scrutiny?

If a seventeen year old in Clapham was mixing with lads of dubious character, you would criticize everyone from the parents to social workers, to Margaret Thatcher, left wing do-gooders and Doctor Spock.

So why does Coulson, a man of questionable integrity, deserve a second chance, while those committing trivial offences deserve jail? Why is he worthy of your spirited and determined defense?
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Does Coulson have something that the others do not?

And you can interpret that question any damn way you like Cameron.

I wouldn't normally post the full article from another blogger, preferring to send rightful traffic to the source, but Hitchens is on a roll, so there is plenty more on the front page

By the by, is that Dick Emery, Bovver Boy, in the thumbnail?

Interviewer: Excuse me, sir.
Bovver Boy: Yer?
Interviewer: Is there anything in life that you feel you've missed?
Bovver Boy: Yer. I never learnt to drive.
Interviewer: That's no great handicap, not being able to drive.
Bovver Boy: It is when you're a car thief.

Newsy Dot Com - Agenda?

I am a blogger, so by definition I'm biassed. I'm also staunchly anti-twat, and there is nothing in this world that panders to that most unsophisticated of emotions that lurks within me, that of Schadenfreude, than when the twats of this world get theirs.

Sir Paul, that'll do nicely Stephenson, gone. John, integrity Yates, gone. Andy, dodgy geezer Hayman, about to get his. And Piers, I couldn't lie straight in bed Morgan, also about to get his, in spite of how much CNN try to whitewash the lying fuck.

But this article is not about Piers Morgan per say, rather about some outfit that I have never heard of, Newsy.com.

I first viewed this clip in the wee hours, and not being at my most attentive, my initial thought was, CNN, no matter how much you try to spin this, the outcome is inevitable, Piers Morgan is toast.

The problem with that first impression being, it wasn't CNN doing the spinning, and it is here that I ask you as readers for your opinion, but rather it was said outfit, Newsy.com.

A search of the net didn't bring up an awful lot about the outfit, particularly if there are vested interests lurking in the background, so I could do nothing more than base my own opinion on the content of the clip.

Is it my bias towards the twats of this world that is colouring my judgement, does Newsy.com have an agenda here, is it the bimbo that's presenting the clip, or is it just normal crap American reporting, the standard of which, we have become so inured to over the years?

Any thoughts?

Source HuffPo

Footnote: For an organisation that aspires to be a global player, the Huffington Post blocks more video content to the UK, than any other outfit I have ever come across.

Sean Hoare: The Met's Indecent Haste

Apart from raising the obvious questions that the writer displays in the leader, there were a couple of other things that caught my eye. The role played by our erstwhile top cop John, 'Integrity' Yates in this sorry saga of corruption and cover-up, and the other, just down the page slightly.

Why did UK police declare death of News of the World whistleblower “not suspicious?”
By Chris Marsden
20 July 2011

When the former News of the World reporter Sean Hoare was found dead Monday at his home in Watford, north of London, the immediate response of the Hertfordshire police was to issue a public statement declaring his death to be “unexplained but not thought to be suspicious.”

The statement is at the very least extraordinary, and at worst sinister in its implications.......

-

Hoare’s claims were passed on to the Metropolitan Police, who said he declined to give evidence. The Guardian’s Nick Davies paints a fuller picture more damaging to the police. He writes that Hoare was “offended when Scotland Yard's former assistant commissioner, John Yates, assigned officers to interview him, not as a witness but as a suspect. They told him anything he said could be used against him, and, to his credit, he refused to have anything to do with them.”

And this from the Mail, editor Paul Dacre, doing what it does best, sucking establishment cock.

The Daily Mail ran a piece specifically seeking to dismiss any and all questions of possible wrongdoing in Hoare’s death. It described him as “a paranoid recluse who believed someone was out to get him,” citing an unnamed “friend and neighbour.”

The newspaper added that he had “spent much of the last weeks of his life ‘hiding’ in his flat with the curtains drawn.” It quoted Hoare’s friend as saying, “He would talk about someone from the Government coming to get him. He’d say to me, ‘If anyone comes by, don’t say I’m in.’”

Given that he was involved in a scandal that is threatening the government, the police and one of the world’s major news corporations—and the treatment already meted out to him—such caution was not paranoia, but common sense. Read full article

Cops Carter-Ruck and Cash - Ours

Not an unusual occurrence, that on the occasion of a festering saucer of pus being exposed to the harsh light of day, we find it attended by a slithering visage of the globules of evil that forms themselves into a vaguely human form every now and again that is Messrs Carter-Ruck.

Before dealing with the present day bowl of discharge, John Yates, a sad little man who fucks for money but refuses to call himself a whore, we must turn the clock back somewhat to a time when another tiny-dicked fucker who abused his power and position, and the public purse, by hiring the aforementioned shape-shifting purulence, in order to try and stop the media exposing his involvement and that of his wife, in what can only be described as, or better still, let me borrow a phrase: what must be the dodgiest PPP privatisation contract ever signed in the UK.

Of whom do I speak, and involving the sum of £90,000 of public money, none other than, and as it happens, best mucker of Jim Gamble, Avon and Somerset's Chief Constable, Colin Port?

A taster.

Avon & Somerset Chief Constable Colin Port 'ruling by decree'

The regional ITV and BBC newsrooms have been buzzing over the last two months with threatening legal letters from lawyers Carter Ruck, all paid for with public money and attempting to gag the press from criticising Somerset County Council, Chief Constable Colin Port and his wife Susan Barnes. Both are party to what must be the dodgyest PPP privatisation contract ever signed in the UK.

Under a freedom of information request it has just been disclosed that £90,000 of public money was paid by Chief Constable Colin Port to lawyers Carter Ruck in an attempt to stop Bristol's TV and Radio stations reporting on the IBM/Southwest One contract in which he and his wife had a direct interest. His wife Sue Barnes has been paid £200,000 in salary and fees alone as part of the deal. more Indymedia.

The same Colin Port, cast in the same mould as Lord Hutton, ruled out collusion in Nelson inquiry.
Details of investigation boost case for independent Nelson investigation. An PhoblachtAs I mentioned previously, Jim Gamble and Colin Port are the very best of mates, such good mates in fact Jimmy wasn't backward in coming forward in his support for Colin, going so far as to write to the Times letters to the Editor. Unfortunately the links I could have furnished, are now prescription only. But for links galore, and for more teeshirts, you can go here. Bad Cops No Doughnuts





Right so! Yates of the Yard, no relation to Brunt of the Yard I take it? (A shiver looking for a spine.) John, Integrity, Yates of the Yard no less; it doesn't have quite the same ring as Air Miles Andy so let's settle for Mr Integrity.

It would appear this is not the first Mr Integrity's integrity has come into question. But that was all a misunderstanding because our John didn't know it was against the rules. But isn't it the cops who are the first to point out that ignorance of the law is no excuse?

In an article not chosen by accident, as will become apparent.

Police chief used Scotland Yard's air miles to fund flights for family
By Charlotte Gill
27th September 2010

One of Britain's most senior police officers used air miles accumulated on official trips abroad to help buy flights for his family, it emerged yesterday.

John Yates, Scotland Yard's anti-terror chief, broke his force's own rules by using the perk for personal flights.

It is understood that some of the trips had been taken by his teenage son and daughter.

Assistant Commissioner Yates has agreed to pay back any outstanding tax owed on the trips which are viewed by HM Revenue and Customs as a benefit in kind.

His case is expected to prompt similar inquiries into other senior officers to see if they have fallen foul of the same regulations.

Metropolitan Police rules state that officers must use the points amassed on business journeys to cut the cost of future work trips.

Mr Yates used air miles from his work trips - on which, as senior officer, he is entitled to travel business class - to cut the cost of up to ten flights by family members.

The £180,000-a-year officer has led a string of high-profile investigations including the 'cash for honours' probe into claims that life peerages were awarded by the Labour Party in return for secret loans.

Mr Yates, 51, is also in charge of the recently reopened inquiry into the extent of phone hacking by News of the World journalists.

He has said that he intends to interview the paper's former editor Andy Coulson, who is David Cameron's director of communications. more

And we all know how that one played out.

To the nitty gritty then, Mr Integrity of the Yard's misuse of public funds.

News Corp board shocked at evidence of payments to police, says former DPP

Lord Macdonald tells committee it took him 'three to five minutes' to decide NoW emails had to be passed to police
by Owen Bowcott
19 July 2011

"Blindingly obvious" evidence of corrupt payments to police officers was found by the former director of public prosecutions, Lord Macdonald, when he inspected News of the World emails, the home affairs select committee was told.

Explaining how he had been called in by solicitors acting for Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation board, Lord Macdonald said that when he inspected the messages it took him between "three to five minutes" to decide that the material had to be passed to police.

"The material I saw was so blindingly obvious that trying to argue that it should not be given to the police would have been a hard task. It was evidence of serious criminal offences."

He first showed it to the News Corp board in June this year. "There was no dissent," he recalled. "They were stunned. They were shocked. I said it was my unequivocal advice that it should be handed to the police. They accepted that."

That board meeting, the former DPP said, was chaired by Rupert Murdoch.

Lord Macdonald shortly afterwards gave the material to Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick at the Metropolitan police. The nine or 10 emails passed over led to the launch of Operation Elveden, the police investigation into corrupt payments to officers for information.

Lord Macdonald, who had been in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service when the phone-hacking prosecution of the NoW's royal correspondent took place, said he had only been alerted to the case due to the convention that the DPP is always notified of crimes involving the royal family.

Members of the committee were highly critical of the CPS's narrow definition of what constituted phone hacking, claiming that it was at odds with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

Mark Reckless, the Conservative MP for Rochester, said that the original police investigation was hindered by the advice from the CPS that phone hacking was only an offence if messages had been intercepted before they were listened to by the intended recipient. However, Reckless said, a clause in the RIPA makes it an offence to hack in to messages even if they have already been heard.

Keir Starmer, the current DPP, said that the police had been told that "the RIPA legislation was untested". Listening to messages before they had been heard by the intended recipient was illegal, the police were told, but the question of whether intercepting them afterwards constituted a crime was "untested", he said.

Mark Lewis, the solicitor who has followed the scandal since its start, said he was the first person to lose his job over the affair when the firm in which he was a partner said it no longer wished him to pursue other victims' claims.

Lewis also told MPs that he had been threatened by lawyers acting for John Yates, the former assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan police, because of comments he had made about phone hacking.

"I have copies of a letter from Carter Ruck [solicitors] threatening to sue me on behalf of John Yates," Lewis told the home affairs select committee. He said the Guardian and the Labour MP Chris Bryant had also received threats of being sued. "The costs of the action were paid for by the Metropolitan Police, by the taxpayer," he added.

Lewis said the reason for the investigation taking so long was not due solely to the police. "The DPP seems to have got it wrong and needs to be helped out," he said. Guardian

Which somewhat begs the questions; How much, would Mr Integrity have been so keen to employ these modern day Dick Turpins if he had to shell out his own brass as opposed to ours, and by no means least, how on earth was he allowed to get away with such a blatant misuse of taxpayers money?
Quite understandably. I'm not the only one that feels a tad miffed with such carryings on, a certain Richard Wilson however, feeling strongly enough about things, to apply to the Met under the Freedom of Information Act.

Richard Wilson
12 July 2011

Dear Metropolitan Police Service (MPS),

Under the Freedom of Information Act I am requesting the following
information:

1. Details of all payments made and costs incurred by the
Metropolitan Police to the law firm Carter Ruck from January 1st
2005 to July 12th 2011.

2. Details of the services for which those payments and costs were
made or incurred.

3. Confirmation of whether or not the MPS paid for the services
provided by Carter Ruck in relation to the senior police officer
John Yates/ (It has been reported that the senior John Yates
employed Carter Ruck to threaten media outlets following criticism
of his handling of the investigation into phonehacking by News of
the World).

I look forward to receiving a response as soon as possible or at
the latest within 20 working days. If it is quicker to respond to
this request in several batches, please do send me the relevant
information as soon as you find it.

Many thanks for your assistance with this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Richard Wilson

As you can see by the date, the request was made just a week ago, so nothing as yet in way of a reply other than the standard blah blah in receipt of. But definitely one to keep an eye on.
And a little closer, probably a lot nearer the truth to why John, Gizzajob Yates resigned.

Eeh, I don't know, this integrity, intit a bugger?

H/T Rude Pundit

John Yates Gone!

Another great shot, Stephenson gone, Yates gone, all we need now is an arrest warrant for "dodgy geezer" Andy Hayman, and we'll have the hat trick.

Another fecker and his ''integrity.''


Update: Resigned before he got sacked.

Mr Yates's resignation came after he was informed he would be suspended pending an inquiry into his relationship with Mr Wallis. more

- - -

John Yates resigns from Met police over phone-hacking scandal

Scotland Yard's top counter-terrorism officer quits the day after his boss Sir Paul Stephenson
Vikram Dodd, Sam Jones and Hélène Mulholland
18 July 2011


'I have acted with complete integrity and my conscience is clear'

The Metropolitan police assistant commissioner John Yates has become the second high-profile Scotland Yard officer to resign over the phone-hacking scandal.
The resignation of Yates – the country's top counter-terrorism officer – comes a day after his boss, the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, stepped down.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "Assistant commissioner John Yates has this afternoon indicated his intention to resign to the chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA). This has been accepted. AC Yates will make a statement later this afternoon."
His decision to quit came as the Metropolitan Police Authority's professional standards cases subcommittee held a meeting to consider a slew of complaints against him.
The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said the resignations of Yates and Stephenson were "regrettable but right". He said: "Whatever mistakes have been made at any level in the police service, now is the time to clear them up."
The MPA disciplinary committee, which met on Monday morning, announced that it had decided to suspend Yates pending an inquiry into allegations following the phone-hacking scandal.


Cressida Dick would replace Yates in the interim, Johnson said.
Green party MPA member Jenny Jones said the resignation should have happened earlier and left Johnson with a lot to explain.
"I think it's a real pity Yates did not go before his boss," she said. "It just shows who the most honourable person is. Boris has mishandled this from the start and he obviously has lots of questions to answer."
Earlier on Monday it emerged that Yates had been recalled to give evidence before the Commons home affairs select committee on Tuesday.
Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the committee, said: "The committee has recalled Mr Yates to give evidence tomorrow to clarify aspects of his evidence that he gave to the committee last week and following the statement of Sir Paul Stephenson."


When he appeared before the select committee last Tuesday, Yates expressed regret at his 2009 decision not to reopen the phone-hacking investigation. He insisted he had always told the truth to MPs investigating the issue and suggested that the News of the World "failed to co-operate" with police until the start of this year.
He told the committee: "I can assure you all that I have never lied and all the information that I've provided to this committee has been given in good faith.
"It is a matter of great concern that, for whatever reason, the News of the World appears to have failed to co-operate in the way that we now know they should have with the relevant police inquiries up until January of this year.
"They have only recently supplied information and evidence that would clearly have had a significant impact on the decisions that I took in 2009 had it been provided to us."
Vaz told Yates that his evidence was unconvincing and warned him it was "not the end of the matter". Guardian: short clip blah blah

There Isn't Much Integrity In a Twelve Grand Freebie - Stephenson

Not a great deal either, in keeping shtum about the toerags you hire on a grand a day.

Integrity me feckin arse!

How Sir Paul Stephenson's £12,000 spa break triggered downfall

Former Metropolitan police chief says he had no reason to suspect adviser of involvement in phone hacking

Sir Paul Stephenson was brought in as a safe pair of hands in December 2009 with the remit of placing the Metropolitan police back on a stable footing following the turbulent reign of Sir Ian Blair.

However, the confidence of senior politicians began to drain away in recent days after the phone-hacking crisis enveloped both News International and the Met.

Just hours before Stephenson's resignation, Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, told the BBC that a growing public perception of police corruption was deeply concerning.

"I think when the public starts losing faith in the police, it's altogether much more serious and you know you really are in some trouble."




Announcing his resignation, Stephenson admitted he was doing so because of the speculation relating to the Met's links with News International, but also "in particular in relation to Mr Neil Wallis", the former News International executive who was arrested last Thursday, and who it then emerged had worked for the Met.

The Guardian was also preparing to publish a story about how Scotland Yard chiefs invited Wallis to apply for a senior communications post with the force, a decision which Stephenson was aware of.

Stephenson dated his relationship to Wallis back to 2006, a meeting that took place in the context of the latter's work as a journalist.

From October 2009 to September 2010, Wallis's part-time work at the Met involved strategic communications, advising the commissioner and the assistant commissioner, John Yates, as the force said there was no need to reopen the criminal investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World.

The Guardian understands Wallis was approached to apply for the two-day-a-month contract with the Met after discussions which involved the most senior figures in the force. He was the lowest bidder after a tender process and was paid more than £1,000 a day, earning £24,000.

Stephenson said that he had no role in the management of Wallis's contract.

His relationship with Wallis had always been "one maintained for professional purposes and an acquaintance".

He went on: "I have heard suggestions that we must have suspected the alleged involvement of Mr Wallis in phone hacking. Let me say unequivocally that I did not and had no reason to have done so.

"I do not occupy a position in the world of journalism. I had no knowledge of the extent of this disgraceful practice and the repugnant nature of the selection of victims that is now emerging, nor of its apparent reach into senior levels."

Stephenson insisted the contract only became of relevance when Wallis's name became linked with the new investigation into phone hacking, although he admitted that "the interests of transparency might have made earlier disclosure of this information desirable".

But it was with a flash of anger that he addressed the question of his acceptance of around £12,000-worth of hospitality at a health spa for which Wallis worked as a PR consultant. Yesterday's Sunday Times had revealed Stephenson stayed at Champneys in Tring, Hertfordshire, as he recovered from a serious illness.

"There has been no impropriety and I am extremely happy with what I did and the reasons for it – to do everything possible to return to running the Met full time, significantly ahead of medical, family and friends' advice," he said. "The attempt to represent this in a negative way is both cynical and disappointing."

Wallis had served as deputy to the then NoW editor Andy Coulson during a period when it is alleged there was wide-scale phone hacking at the paper and among private investigators it employed.

Police sources said that the decision to employ Wallis is regretted now, but they insist he had nothing to do with the Met's handling of the phone-hacking controversy. Their account of the appointment is that in 2009, the Met's deputy PR chief was diagnosed with a serious illness, and there was a need for someone to be brought in temporarily. A number of PR firms were "sounded out" about the role, including Wallis's company, Chamy media. A source with knowledge of the Yard's thinking at the time said part of Wallis's attraction was his connection to Coulson, who was a top aide to David Cameron, then in opposition and expected to become prime minister.

Part of the Met's thinking was that Wallis's past connections would help the force's relationship with Cameron: "One [Wallis] is a lot cheaper and gives you direct access into No 10," the source added.

The contract was terminated in September 2010 after new allegations in the media about the extent of hacking at NoW.

It also emerged that Charlie Brooks, the husband of the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, claims to run an alternative treatment therapy centre at Champneys.

Stephenson is a career policeman who was brought up in the Lancashire town of Bacup. He had once wanted to become a shoe salesman, but joined Lancashire constabulary in 1975, following in the footsteps of his elder brother.

His first real test after taking the Met hotseat came within months. The Met was criticised for its handling of the G20 summit protests in London, when thousands of demonstrators clashed with officers.

The most vociferous criticism came after a 47-year-old newspaper seller, Ian Tomlinson, collapsed and died on the fringes of the demonstrations after a confrontation with police officers.

There were also reports that Stephenson, who received a knighthood in the Queen's birthday honours list last June, offered to stand down after a Rolls-Royce carrying the Prince of Wales and Camilla was mobbed during the riots. Guardian

Stephenson Gone!

Good shot, Yates next?

Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson quits

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has resigned following the phone hacking scandal.

Britain's most senior police officer has faced criticism for hiring former News of the World executive Neil Wallis - who was questioned by police investigating hacking - as an adviser.

Sir Paul said his links to the journalist could hamper investigations.

He said there were lessons to be learned from the affair, but he was leaving with his integrity intact.

He also said he had no knowledge of the extent of the phone hacking.



Home Secretary Theresa May said she was "sorry" he had resigned and thanked him for all the work he had done during his time in office.

Earlier, she said she would address MPs on Monday about her "concerns" over the closeness of the relationship between News International and police.
'Great sadness'

Sir Paul said in a statement: "I have taken this decision as a consequence of the ongoing speculation and accusations relating to the Met's links with News International at a senior level and in particular in relation to Mr Neil Wallis."

He added: "Let me state clearly, I and the people who know me know that my integrity is completely intact.

"I may wish we had done some things differently, but I will not lose sleep over my personal integrity." short clip blah blah

The Met and the News Of The World: Too Cosy By Far

That the origin for this round-up of skulduggery and nefarious goings on is all the one source, I make no apology.

Leaving aside for today, Assistant Commissioner John, sweep it under the carpet and it will go away, Yates, we shall take a look at his boss, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson.

The first page of the many that I opened, all courtesy of the London Evening Standard, was accompanied by an involuntary but familiar groan. Seeing yet another top cop with ties to the north of Ireland, does tend to have that effect on me.

Whether in the case of Stephenson this has any bearing I couldn't say, but given how many other rouges in blue have previously cut their teeth on that particular rusk, I thought it worth a mention. (Sir Ronnie Flanagan, Jim Gamble, Sir Hugh Orde, Matt Baggott, Colin Port, to name but a few.)

Sir Paul Stephenson
...He was a superintendent by 1988, and spells in Liverpool and with the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland during the Troubles followed. He returned to Lancashire and was appointed chief constable in 2002, boosting his reputation by having his force judged the best in the country. Brief Bio

And just like another bent clown that we recently heard from, former assistant commissioner Andy Hayman, the same Andy Hayman that went on to work for News International. Just as Hayman blustered when questioned about his own integrity, even being called a "dodgy geezer" by one MP on the select committee, we have this from Sir Paul Stephenson. (Story and much watch video here, Hayman at the 2m 20s) mark

"I do not believe that on any occasion I have acted inappropriately. I am very satisfied with my own integrity," he said.

You may well be Sir Paul, but something's amiss, if it's not your integrity then it must be your judgement. Why else would you be hauled up before Boris for a right royal bollocking? sorry, Mayoral bollocking, to explain why you as Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Scotland Yard came to employ a former News of the World journalist arrested in the phone hacking inquiry as a PR consultant.

So if your integrity is not in question, then it must be your aforementioned judgement, though for the quarter of a million pounds that we pay you each year, I thought we might expect something a tad better.

Seems I'm not the only one that thinks we're being short changed, even David, call me paddling pool,* Camereon, would like a few answers, which one has to say, is a bit rich by anybody's standards.

Our next story from the Evening Standard starts with this header:

A huge blunder by Yard bosses - but will others emerge?

A huge blunder! how very kind of him; and continues:

At best, this is a massive failure of judgment (sic) by Scotland Yard bosses.

The practice of senior policemen dining with executives of national newspapers is nothing new and arguably an important part of staying in touch with public opinion.

Yet, sometimes there are questions over the type of company being kept by the police.

For these officers to then go and pay the newspapermen taxpayers' cash for media advice is much more serious and takes the debate to a new level.

Now, there are justifiable questions to be asked about why these contacts were being maintained, what did the police know and were there any deals done over stories and inquiries. There are further questions about when Met Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is investigating the hacking and bribery scandals, was told about Mr Wallis's contract.

Sir Paul Stephenson has attracted the ire of London Mayor Boris Johnson, MPs and the Prime Minister by failing to disclose the contract to them before the news leaked out last night

Despite the controversy, there is no suggestion, at present, that Neil Wallis gave any advice on phone hacking or that his employment at Scotland Yard had any impact upon the Met's decisions on whether or not to reopen its investigation into the News of the World.

Scotland Yard bosses will want to try to keep this as one isolated blunder.

The question is are there any more waiting to be revealed. LES

If I didn't know better, I would say your position, and that of your underdog, was becoming untenable, or to put it a tad less politely, you're fucked. But therein lies the problem, I've been around long enough that I do know better. Unfortunately.

* Shallow

Unedited

Treason Anyone? Assange Questions Oz PM Gillard

Whenever a Pol opens their mouth enabling a few a lies words to slither out, the red flags come up for me no matter who they are, but of yer woman here, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, what can I say? Not only did the flags come up, they came up waving, each trying to out-wave the other as they vied for attention, and the din! I've never heard such a cacophony of noise, what with the bells a ringing, the whistles a whistlin, the horns a blowin' and even the hooters a hootin' what a disingenuous bint if ever I saw one, and yes she even looks disingenuous.

I'm sure it's not just the subject matter that's giving me such bias, even if she would sell Julian Assange up the river at the drop of a hat, which she obviously would. Nor do I think it's the accent, which I do have to admit, for whatever reason, I find hard to associate it with any degree of sincerity or integrity. The woman is stereotypical Pol throughout, which one cannot expect anything else of one who has risen to such lofty heights, to become Head Pol of any country, accepting of course, those that got there via the seat of a tank.

Try her towards the end of the video with this little taster.

“Once again, we're doing hypotheticals on hypotheticals here, but policy-wise, we do not extradite people who could be subject to the death penalty. It's not a question of Mr. Assange or not Mr. Assange. That's Australian policy. We just don't.”

Death penalty yes, It's a pity though that the questioner didn't leave the question as: ''would (she) guarantee Assange wouldn't be extradited to the US'' period. Because it's quite obvious to me, not only would she allow him to be extradited, she'd put the bugger on the plane personally, and do it with a smile.

Gillard,Labour Pol as opposed to Liberal Pol John Howard, but by the jasus didn't they come out of the same mould, and we know what that one is like. Updated link.

Assange ambushes Australian Prime Minister on live TV
Asks if she should be tried for treason
By Dan Goodin

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard denied supplying information about WikiLeaks staff to the US government after founder Julian Assange confronted her on live television and suggested she be tried for treason.
The ambush happened during an interview with the Australian leader aired live on that country's public network ABC. With no prior warning, the broadcaster showed a video of Assange asking a pointed question. Dressed in a suit and tie, he said his staff has uncovered evidence her government has exchanged information with foreign powers about Australian citizens who worked for WikiLeaks.
“So prime minister, my question to you is this: When will you come clean about precisely what information you have supplied to foreign powers about Australian citizens working or affiliated with WikiLeaks?” he asked. “And if you cannot give a full and frank answer to that question, should perhaps the Australian people consider charging you with treason?”
Gillard was unflappable, but her response also provided her with plenty of wiggle room.

On the exchange of information that he's talking about, I honestly don't know what he's talking about, so I'm afraid I can't help him with full and frank disclosures,” she said. “I don't know anything about exchanging information about people who work for WikiLeaks. To my knowledge it hasn't happened.”

She went on to say that her government regularly shares intelligence with United States officials.

“It's part of our alliance, and it's in the best interests of this country,” she said.

AFP later quoted Australian Foreign Minster Kevin Rudd denying Assange's claim, but his statement was also open to interpretation.

“I am not aware of seeing any such material myself,” Rudd was quoted as saying.

ABC gave Assange a “no-strings attached invitation” to question Gillard and gave the prime minister no advanced knowledge of the arrangement, according to The Australian.

An Australian citizen, Assange has been critical of Gillard's government for not doing more to shield him from US investigators trying to prove the WikiLeaks founder was complicit in the in the suspected leaking of thousands of classified diplomatic cables by Pfc. Bradley Manning. The former US Army intelligence analyst was recently charged with 22 additional crimes, including aiding the enemy, an offense that carries the death penalty.

Asked if she would guarantee Assange wouldn't be extradited to the US where he might face similar charges, Gillard said:

“Once again, we're doing hypotheticals on hypotheticals here, but policy-wise, we do not extradite people who could be subject to the death penalty. It's not a question of Mr. Assange or not Mr. Assange. That's Australian policy. We just don't.”

Assange remains under house arrest in Britain pending his appeal of last month's decision by a London court that he be extradited to Sweden to answer questions in sex assault investigation. Register

''Failure to do so would call into question their integrity''

Cop speak, don't you just love the bullshit, a member of ACPO (S) inferring how inconceivable it could be, that another member of ACPO (S) might not be possessed of the highest degree of integrity.

....Last night, George Esson, who was Chief Constable of Dumfries and Galloway when Megrahi was indicted for mass murder, confirmed he was aware of the development.

But Esson, who retired in 1994, questioned the officer's motives. He said: "Any police officer who believed they had knowledge of any element of fabrication in any criminal case would have a duty to act on that. Failure to do so would call into question their integrity, and I can't help but question their motive for raising the matter now."

An interesting enough article nevertheless.

CIA Involvement.: Lockerbie evidence was faked.

CIA planted tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting a Libyan for the 1989 mass murder of 270 people
February 24 2011

This report was published by the Scotesman more than four years exactly three years ago. "the CIA planted the tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting a Libyan for the 1989 mass murder of 270 people."

A former Scottish police chief has given lawyers a signed statement claiming that key evidence in the Lockerbie bombing trial was fabricated.

The retired officer - of assistant chief constable rank or higher - has testified that the CIA planted the tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting a Libyan for the 1989 mass murder of 270 people.

The police chief, whose identity has not yet been revealed, gave the statement to lawyers representing Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, currently serving a life sentence in Greenock Prison.

The evidence will form a crucial part of Megrahi's attempt to have a retrial ordered by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC). The claims pose a potentially devastating threat to the reputation of the entire Scottish legal system.

The officer, who was a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland, is supporting earlier claims by a former CIA agent that his bosses "wrote the script" to incriminate Libya.

Last night, George Esson, who was Chief Constable of Dumfries and Galloway when Megrahi was indicted for mass murder, confirmed he was aware of the development.

But Esson, who retired in 1994, questioned the officer's motives. He said: "Any police officer who believed they had knowledge of any element of fabrication in any criminal case would have a duty to act on that. Failure to do so would call into question their integrity, and I can't help but question their motive for raising the matter now."

Other important questions remain unanswered, such as how the officer learned of the alleged conspiracy and whether he was directly involved in the inquiry. But sources close to Megrahi's legal team believe they may have finally discovered the evidence that could demolish the case against him.

An insider told Scotland on Sunday that the retired officer approached them after Megrahi's appeal - before a bench of five Scottish judges - was dismissed in 2002.

The insider said: "He said he believed he had crucial information. A meeting was set up and he gave a statement that supported the long-standing rumours that the key piece of evidence, a fragment of circuit board from a timing device that implicated Libya, had been planted by US agents.

"Asked why he had not come forward before, he admitted he'd been wary of breaking ranks, afraid of being vilified. more

Julian Assange Extradition Granted. Well It Would Be Wouldn't It

Kicking the establishment in the bollocks was never going to be forgiven. If I were you old lad, I'd be seriously thinking of being away on me toes, tag or no tag. The writing is on the wall, just the two words, Julian Assange.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange will be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault charges, a British judge has ruled.

The silver-haired Australian sat in the dock of the Belmarsh Magistrates Court in southeast London showing no emotion as Judge Howard Riddle read: "I must order that Mr Assange is extradited to Sweden".

"I have specifically considered whether the physical or mental condition of the defendant is such that it would be unjust or oppressive to extradite him," Judge Riddle said.

"In fact, I am satisfied that extradition is compatible with the defendant's convention rights. I must order that Mr Assange be extradited to Sweden."

He added that Mr Assange had seven days to lodge an appeal the against the decision.

"Clear and specific allegations have been made against Mr Assange in Sweden," Judge Riddle said, adding that it was reasonable for authorities to request he be in Stockholm for questioning.

The allegations against Mr Assange include three counts of sexual assault and one of rape, against two women on two separate occasions in August 2010.

Judge Riddle recounted details of the women's claims: that in one case Assange "deliberately molested the injured party by acting in a manner designed to violate her sexual integrity".

His actions allegedly included holding her arms, forcing apart her legs and putting his body weight on top of her to prevent her movement, later rubbing his penis against her naked body.

The allegation involving the second woman is that Mr Assange had unprotected sex with a woman who was sleeping, knowing she would not consent to unprotected sex and therefore constituting rape.

Judge Riddle rejected arguments by Mr Assange's lawyers that the Swedish prosecutor in charge of the investigation was not authorised to order the extradition and had made a mistake.

"Here, there is simply no reason to believe there has been a mistake," he said.

"The prosecution has been meticulous and left no stone unturned."

The court continues to discuss Mr Assange's bail status.

Since December 14, his conditional bail has required he live at an English country estate and report daily to police.

Geoffrey Robertson QC, representing Mr Assange, said there were some difficulties if bail were to be continued in its current form, including the electronic "bracelet" that his client is required to wear to monitor his whereabouts.

"You know what the problem is: that it does restrict his exercise. He can't run, for example," Mr Robertson told the court.

"The electronic tag does, for example, make it difficult to run."

Without having made a formal decision on bail, Judge Riddle said the current measures were necessary.

"There is a need for the authorities to know where somebody is on a daily basis," he said.

Dressed in a dark grey suit with red tie, Mr Assange held a notebook and pen throughout last night's ruling but wrote down little.

Earlier, he strode confidently pass waiting media and into the court complex, smiling and chatting with his legal representatives.

The smile was nowhere to be seen after Judge Riddle's ruling, with Assange clasping his hands and shifting in his seat.

Mr Assange sparked controversy when he published hundreds of thousands of leaked US diplomatic cables on WikiLeaks.

He has said his real fear was Sweden delivering him to US authorities.heraldsun.au

Andrew MacKinlay MP: A Rare Breed

.
A Pol with integrity, they don't come rarer than that.

I would go as far to say even rarer than me agreeing with a Tory rag (Daily Mail) and a Tory leader (Cameron) but I have been following the Wail's campaign and Cameron's efforts in the house on behalf of Gary McKinnon, who embarrassingly, for the Pentagon, hacked into their zillion dollar security system and who now want to bury McKinnon underground in some hell hole of a supermax prison for decades to come.

And a word for Andrew MacKinlay, it might be quite noble to resign on principle but don't you think you ought to stay and fight your corner, or better said Gary McKinnon's corner.

Labour MP resigns in fury over Gary McKinnon: Veteran who stood up for Asperger's victim quits over colleagues' hypocrisy

Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay is quitting Westminster in disgust after MPs failed to stop computer hacker Gary McKinnon's extradition to the US.

The respected backbencher says he is 'disillusioned' about Parliament's inability to hold ministers to account.

He told the Daily Mail, which is campaigning for Mr McKinnon to stand trial here, that he had been frustrated for some time by MPs' willingness to follow party 'diktats', even if they contradicted their private views.

The Commons vote last week over Britain's unbalanced extradition arrangements with the US had been the final straw.

'It crystallised a view of Parliament I have had for some time,' Mr MacKinlay said.

The 60-year-old was one of just ten Labour MPs who had the courage to vote for a review of the 2003 Extradition Treaty in the wake of controversy over the case of the Asperger's Syndrome sufferer.

But 74 Labour MPs, who had previously signed motions backing Mr McKinnon, or demanding an extradition review, failed to oppose the party line.

The review move was defeated by 290 votes to 236.

Mr McKinnon's mother Janis Sharp said last night she was 'delighted' at the MP's decision....more

The Daily Mail campaign links.


This is the latest article by Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay

This feeble wobbling on McKinnon is bad for democracy

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1200270/ANDREW-MacKINLAY-This-feeble-wobbling-McKinnon-bad-democracy.html#ixzz0MfNDI3Ie


Trust in Parliament has never been lower. Respect for politicians has been heavily diminished, not just by the Commons expenses scandal but also because of the failure of MPs and Ministers to be straight with the public.

Lack of conviction, weasel words, submission to the party whipping machines and a reluctance to abide by previous pledges have all played their insidious part in undermining the reputation of the Commons.

Public faith is hardly likely to be restored by this week's vote on the extradition to the U.S. of Gary McKinnon, whom the Americans want to put on trial over charges of hacking into the Pentagon's computer systems...more

It was back in April 07 that I blogged about Gary McKinnon and the one sided extradition policy that the UK enjoys with the US.

UK Hacker Loses Extradition Fight

Pissed, seriously pissed am I to hear this, a few words from the text takes the words from my mouth.

Alleged threats by US authorities, including one from New Jersey prosecutors that "he would fry", would be among issues raised, Mr Cooper said.
And make no mistake fry he will, after the US has nailed him to a cross....more

Previous

G'day.Possums.
I have written previously on the shabby behaviour of the British Governments acquiescence in giving up one of it's own to the American injustice system and the even shabbier practice of fast tracking extradition requests from the US.
In both cases that I cited the alleged offences were committed on British soil, now it seems that Blair's antipodean counterpart, another eager fellator of Bush's cock, Howard of Australia (legacy of a mean nation) is throwing one of it's citizens to the baying pack at the American Department of Justice.
The same DoJ you no doubt recall headed by the despicable liar and perjurer Alberto Gonzales. Given then that this wonderful level of international cooperation exists can we expect of successive governments to be equally cooperative and acceding to shall we say a request from the international criminal court for the arrest of Tony Blair on the charge of war crimes, or that of Bush himself or one of his cabal on crimes against humanity?
What action then will the Us be taking against...more

And more

Fast Tracked Laws

Fast Tracked Laws.
Fast Tacked To Where. (Guantanamo Bay, Secret Prisons, or just Good Ol' US Ones?)
Fast Tracked To What. (American Justice?)
Fast Tracked To Whom. (A trusted partner?)

Or is that the new euphemism for riding rough shod over due process?

White collar criminals have been the main targets of draconian of new British "fast tracked" laws designed to speed up the extradition of terrorists to the US.
No alleged terrorists have yet to face US courts using the new rules which allow suspects to be sped through British courts without American prosecutors having to show a reasonable case against them.

The legislation brought in as a response to the September 11 attacks has seen the time taken from the arrest of a suspect to their removal for trial in America drop from nearly three years to just over eleven months.
But the home office admits that none of the twenty nine suspects so far sent to the US are alleged terrorists.

The new statistics are set to reignite the row over over the extradition of the so called Nat West Three were sent to the Us last July and charged with fraud relating to the collapsed energy giant Enron.
The row flared after British authorities investigating the alleged offences found their was no case to answer. snip.

Also included was Jeremy Crook, an IT executive who was flown shackled to to US agents to America in September last year. He is due to stand trial in August next year....more

Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity. Is A Bit Thin On The Ground

.

The FBI's Threat Of Torture

A federal appeals court has concluded that an FBI agent must go to trial on charges he coerced a false confession out of a prime suspect in the 9/11 attacks. But the FBI still insists that its agent did nothing wrong. And the feds swayed the court to suppress that portion of a recent decision detailing how the FBI agent used the threat of torture to break an innocent man.


Abdallah Higazy, a 30-year-old Egyptian student, arrived in New York City to study engineering at the Polytechnic University in Brooklyn on August 27, 2001. A U.S. foreign-aid program reserved and paid for his room at the Millennium Hilton Hotel, next to the World Trade Center. After the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center, Higazy hot-footed it out of the hotel. After the terrorist attack, the hotel was sealed.
Three months later, guests were allowed to retrieve their belongings...... more