Dig up the cricket pitch and chain yourself to the railings. Fling yourself in front of the monarch’s horse. For the time has come to campaign for the release of Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare. You may hate the man and think him undeserving of your time and effort – but believe me, an injustice is being perpetrated.
Archer is up for parole pretty soon, but he won’t get it if David Blunkett and the Home Office have their way. Already Mr Blunkett’s office has written to Martin Narey, the commissioner for corrective services, suggesting that Archer stay inside for a good deal longer – until December – and that parole be denied. Or at least this is alleged to have happened. Needless to say, the Home Office denies all knowledge and says that the letter in question, published by the Sunday Mirror, was a forgery. Yeah, sure, right.
The crime for which Jeffrey may be denied his parole is little more than a technicality. While on day release, he attended a sort of ghastly cocktail party at Gillian Shepherd’s house when, really, he should have been at home. I accept that, for most people, being given a sudden taste of freedom and choosing to spend it drinking martinis with Gillian Shepherd is bizarre and perverse. But I’m not sure it should cost five months of a man’s life.
When you examine how the Home Office refers to Archer, in its secret memos obtained under the Data Protection Act by the still …uh, fragrant Mary Archer, you get an insight into the mindset of just what this great government department thinks and wants.
Jeffrey is referred to nastily and disparagingly throughout the 20-odd pages of documents. ‘Some con called Archer’ is the sarcastic reference by a Home Office official on 7 January this year.
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