What the Butler saw

Robin Butler, the former Cabinet Secretary, gave a most interesting interview to Steve Richards on the Westminster Hour this morning. Butler was Cabinet Secretary between 1988 and 1998 and so was there for the slew of leaks that occurred during the tail-end of the Major government. He admitted that most internal leak inquiries achieved little and that he would often ask the police to investigate. However, he noted that he could not “command” the police to help, he could only ask.

The police, Butler said, generally refused to get involved unless there was “prima facie” evidence that a serious crime had been committed. It does appear that this approach has been broken with in this case. (Of course, there is the possibility that there is the possibility that there is more serious evidence that we are unaware of.)

Butler’s comments will only add to the unease about the risk of an appearance of conflict of interest involved in Sir David Normington, the permanent secretary at the Home Office, interviewing and vetting people for the top job at the Met who were involved in the decision to act so aggressively in this inquiry which was launched