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Political row as terror-file officer quits

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Published Date: 10 April 2009
BOB Quick, the UK's former top anti-terrorism officer, was plunged into the middle of a row between Labour and the Tories yesterday.
He quit as assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police after he was photographed in Downing Street carrying a memo marked "secret" which gave details of a planned operation on terror suspects. As the photograph was circulated around the world,
police brought forward by a day a raid on addresses in the north-west of England.

Mr Quick decided overnight that his position was untenable and was about to release his official statement when Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, took to the radio airwaves to break the news.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who has responsibility for counter-terrorism policy, had agreed with Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, that Mr Quick should go. She was finalising her own statement when Mr Johnson was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Home Office sources said she was "mildly irritated and bemused" the announcement had come from Mr Johnson rather than the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Johnson's office said he was within his rights as chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority to make the announcement, but Ms Smith's office said that it should have been made by the police. Ken Livingstone, the former Labour mayor, claimed Mr Quick had been "forced out" by the Tories.

Mr Quick has been replaced by John Yates, who led the "cash for honours" inquiry.





The full article contains 248 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

,

10/04/2009 00:15:43
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
2

Uistman,

Scotland 10/04/2009 01:04:23
Mr Quick makes mistake ,and decides to do the honourable thing as public confidence in him has been damaged beyond repair.
He does not go on television saying things like "what the public want to see is me making the streets safer" or
"I made a mistake and as soon as I realised I aoplogised", nor my particular favourite "what I did was within the rules ,lessons have been learned"
His political masters in The home Office ,and 10 Downing Street could learn a thing or two from the honourable Mr Quick.
Then again any Labour Politician and honour ,bit of a contradiction there.
3

Gussie Fink-Nottle,

10/04/2009 09:11:17
I wonder whether the photographer who took the shot of the documents or the editor who decided to make it a story will resign?

You watch it in real time, and the chap is obviously reading his briefing before seeing the PM and cohorts, bundles them, gets out the car and briskly walks the dozen steps to the door of No 10. He doesn't pause and wave to the Media, hold the papers aloft and shout, "Top Secret". You have to ask what interest the press corps has in hanging around No 10 like sleb paparazzi...

Previously, Whitehall would have slapped a 'D' Notice on the photographs and the story, the editor who first received them would have called government, and the interests of National security would have been secured.

Now we are lead to believe that Fleet Street controls the agenda. That terrorists are among the press pack with telephoto lenses just waiting for an opportunity to snap plod with Top Secret documents..Don't think so. There is much more to this story than meets the eye.
4

DROK,

"Armed police,put down the weapon!" 10/04/2009 11:40:27
Another body on the fire....next, please!

Q. Are ACPO gonna step up & sort out any kind of stance on the obvious question of formal affirmitive action policies?
"Coppers' copper"s won't cut it anymore (we want hardcore rozzers), & the met above most forces are challenged by their historical basis. They remain to a massive extent a militia of ill-educated working class white males charged with maintaining public order among an ever-increasingly variegated population. In a perfect world we could hire perfectly meritocratically, but in this world won't something seriously snap if the met's personnel profile doesn't change kinda dramatically kinda soon?

Barging hamfisted into parliament is only going to draw one kind of response from the devotees of the black arts ensconsed within (entirely regardless of party politics) who know better than many that the sharp end of the long arm of the law needs tight reins, without which it's an organ of state which can seriously upset....
as in....
http://www.scotsman.com/scotland/Man-who-police-identified-as.5161050.jp

etc etc
5

connaughtboy,

stonehaven 10/04/2009 14:15:14
So pleased that Boris upset the truly awful Ms Jacqui Porno Smith.
6

connaughtboy,

stonehaven 10/04/2009 14:17:39
4 Gussie

Bob Quick was 100% to blame for this. Don't make excuses for his stupid behaviour.
7

Number 6,

Germany 10/04/2009 15:51:05
His swift, honourable resignation must have sent shivers down the spines of the gaggle of wretched Labour MPs mired in scandal.
8

Bemused and above it all,

10/04/2009 17:03:55
Got to say, regardless of what Quick did, he did the right thing afterwards, however a D notice would & should have been issued, I still think he would have resigned anyway.

Just a point though, why cant MI5 continue not to kill anyone abroad, while MI6 continue not to kill anyone in the UK if we know who the barstewards are?
9

Observer,,

Glasgow 10/04/2009 19:53:28
4 Spot on. So he was carrying a memo marked ''secret'' I would think any memo being discussed between the chief of anti-terrorist Police activity and Number 10 would be secret, big deal, where is the news in that let alone a resigning issue. And he has been given a huge pay off by all accounts. So what is the real story here ? And what do the Tories in the shape of Boris have to do with it ? I think we should be told.

 

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