May did not order police to gag media in cable row, sources say

July 14, 2019

No 10 insists it did NOT order police probe into leaked diplomatic cables amid furious backlash at Scotland Yard’s attempt to muzzle the Press

Scotland Yard issued warning that those publishing leaked cables could face jail
The Yard faced a furious backlash over the weekend over the aggressive warning
Leaked diplomatic cables by UK Ambassador described Donald Trump as ‘inept’
The leaking of the cables provoked fury in Whitehall and led to a major inquiry

Theresa May did not order the police to muzzle the Press over the row about leaked diplomatic cables, Whitehall sources said last night.

Scotland Yard sparked a furious backlash over the weekend after issuing an aggressive warning that journalists who published leaked documents could face jail.

The warning came after Sir Kim Darroch resigned as Britain’s ambassador to Washington last week in the wake of the row over leaked diplomatic cables in which he described Donald Trump as ‘inept’.

Theresa May did not order the police to muzzle the Press over the row about leaked diplomatic cables, Whitehall sources said last night. Scotland Yard sparked a furious backlash over the weekend after issuing an aggressive warning that journalists who published leaked documents could face jail

Human rights lawyers claimed yesterday that the police had acted in order to ‘protect the Government from embarrassment’.

But a senior Whitehall source insisted the police were responsible for the controversial statement in which Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu warned journalists that publishing material from leaked cables ‘may be a criminal matter’.

The source said the involvement of Scotland Yard in the hunt for the mole whose leaks brought down Sir Kim followed an independent assessment by the police and Crown Prosecution Service of whether the Official Secrets Act had potentially been breached.

He added: ‘The idea that No 10 fancy a row over Press freedom at this point in time is a little far-fetched.’

The leaking of the cables provoked fury in Whitehall and led to a major inquiry, which culminated in the Metropolitan Police’s Counter- Terror Command taking charge on Friday evening.

The Mail on Sunday yesterday published fresh material gleaned from leaked diplomatic cables sent by Sir Kim. He is pictured above in February 2017

Mr Basu was accused of trying to curb the freedom of the Press after issuing a warning in which he said: ‘The publication of leaked communications, knowing the damage they have caused or are likely to cause, may be a criminal matter.

‘I would advise all owners, editors and publishers of social and mainstream media not to publish leaked government documents that may already be in their possession, or which may be offered to them, and to turn them over to the police or give them back to their rightful owner, Her Majesty’s Government.’

Boris Johnson led criticism of the comments, saying: ‘It can’t be right that papers publishing material face prosecution. There’s no threat to national security.’

His Tory leadership rival Jeremy Hunt, who is leading a campaign for Press freedom around the world, said: ‘I defend to the hilt the right of the Press to publish those leaks if they judge them to be in the national interest.’

Following the backlash, Mr Basu made a partial climbdown, saying the Metropolitan Police ‘respects the rights of the media and has no intention of seeking to prevent editors from publishing stories in the public interest in a liberal democracy’.

But he repeated his warning that publishing documents in breach of the Official Secrets Act ‘could constitute a criminal offence and one that carries no public interest defence.’

The Mail on Sunday yesterday published fresh material gleaned from leaked diplomatic cables sent by Sir Kim.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd defended that decision, telling the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘I don’t think the Mail On Sunday was wrong to publish them. I know we have a very precious freedom of Press legislation here.’

Government sources yesterday played down the prospect of an imminent breakthrough in the leak inquiry.

Mr Basu (above) was accused of trying to curb the freedom of the Press after issuing a warning in which he said: ‘The publication of leaked communications, knowing the damage they have caused or are likely to cause, may be a criminal matter’

It is understood that the government spy station GCHQ has ruled out the possibility that a hostile state such as Russia obtained the diplomatic cables by hacking government systems.

Attention is focusing on a small group of current and former officials and ministers who would have had access to Sir Kim’s messages.

Some human rights lawyers pointed the finger at Downing Street for the police crackdown.

Geoffrey Robertson QC said: ‘There were no secrets in the ambassador’s leaked comments… The police should understand the Official Secrets Act is not there to protect the Government from embarrassment.’

But a Whitehall source pointed out that the police had decided not to intervene in a similar case earlier this year following the leak of sensitive material from the Prime Minister’s National Security Council about the role of the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei in Britain’s 5G network.

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