Priti Patel - The Murdoch Confirmation

Yesterday, after the Home Office attempted to intervene and delay further the report from the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, perhaps redacting parts of its conclusions, I considered whose interests might be served by such a move. The candidates were the HO and especially Home Secretary Priti Patel, the Metropolitan Police, and the Murdoch mafiosi. My Occam’s Razor pointed me firmly at the last-mentioned.

Set smirk to stun

The Murdoch press had been involved with the UK’s most notorious unsolved murder for many years, not least with their interference in at least one of the Police investigations. Morgan’s business partner, Jonathan Rees, had worked for the late and not at all lamented Screws - after he had done a stretch for trying to fit up a witness.

When it was pointed out to the twinkle-toed yet domestically combative Rebekah Brooks that her staff had been involved in tailing the detective leading one of the Police investigations, she apparently took no action. Later, Priti Patel was one of only two prominent Tory MPs invited to Rupe’s wedding to Jerry Hall (the other was Michael Gove).

Then came a further analysis from Peter Jukes at Byline Times, who discounted the idea that the Met may have requested the delay: “they have been working with the Panel for six years now. A team of 10 officers worked for 10 days inspecting the report for any operational threats to national security and any senior officers criticised received letters from the Panel months ago allowing them a full right of reply”. So his conclusion?

“Given that politicians are now courting the approval and attention of Rupert Murdoch with the same avidity as a decade ago, it certainly leaves open to question whether the main block to the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Report comes not from Scotland Yard, but News UK headquarters”. And then the house fell in on Ms Patel.

As Vikram Dodd at the Guardian has reported, she had not yet been given a copy of the report. Moreover, “The independent panel investigating the Daniel Morgan scandal is refusing the home secretary’s demands to hand over its report before it can be published, as senior police sources say nothing in the case affects national security”.

So not only has the Panel stood its ground, it has been confirmed that the cops have no objection to the report being published - in full, and promptly. The Home Office’s “National security” excuse has been exposed. Readers were also told “The report, which runs to more than 1,000 pages, was already at the printers when the Home Office intervened”.

Now, presumably, it is back with the Panel. Meanwhile, more media outlets are reporting on the story - but not those under the control of the Murdoch mafiosi. Worse for both them and Ms Patel is the reality of their predicament: whatever may or may not have gone on behind the scenes, whoever is responsible for this amateurish intervention has caused the Streisand Effect to take over, and the pressure to publish to build to breaking point.

After all, no Home Secretary would have interfered with the Hillsborough Independent Panel. Why should there now be interference with the Morgan Panel? The past 24 hours have shown us where power lies in the UK. And it is not with the people.

Today Ms Patel is on a border force raid. But we don’t want to look over there. Publish.

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